Dark Side of the Moon
by Kiriona
Summary: Complete! Basically, way after the war, Jak and Daxter had daughters, then they both died. So the two daughters go back in time to try to save them, but something goes very wrong. PLEASE review!
1. Chapter 1: Obligation

Dark Side of the Moon

Written by Kiriona777

I was staying up much later than usual tonight, working on my machine. I could hardly believe the progress I'd made tonight, compared to the long months I spend on it. Usually, I only work for about two hours, then stop, but tonight something was different. I felt as if I could actually finish it tonight. But I doubted it. It was nowhere near ready to be used. I still needed several more parts and I still had some bugs to work out. But once that was finished, I'd finally be able to get to the real mission…

Finally finishing for the night, I tossed my shoulder length blonde hair over my shoulder and wiped a small spot of spilled oil off my cheek.

"Well, Dawn… I think that concludes my work for this evening," I declared.

"And you're almost finished with it, right?" Dawn asked, scratching her fur again. She'd been sitting on the desk the whole times, watching me work. Dawn was my Ottsel, and my best friend. I nodded.

"Just one more part to find, then I'll just need to work out the bugs."

"Good. Now can we go home so we can sleep?"

"I feel like going for a short walk first. I'm not really that tired," I said. Dawn yawned and stretched out her arms.

"Right well, I'm hitting the hay. I'll see you tomorrow, Jakie," she responded.

"Good night, Dawn."

Once Dawn was inside the house, I quickly mounted my Leaper Lizard and road it around the city a few times. The night guards were out patrolling the streets as always. Boring. It used to be so much fun riding around the city at night, or any time of the day. But not anymore. Mostly because my father used to ride with her and make it fun. I missed the old days… The fun days… I reached one of the few grassy areas in the wasteland city, jumped off my Leaper and sat down, allowing those old memories to flood my mind…

_Jak, Daxter,Torn, a much younger Jakie, and an much younger Dawn, and Dawns younger siblings, Red and Sunny were all playing around the Oasis not to far from the city. It was something they did every so often just to get away from the crowds. Jakie was childishly teasing Torn to come and swim with her; Jak was sitting by the water watching them, laughing to himself, Daxter was near Jak, and the other Ottsels were playing in the Sand Shark. _

"_Come on, Uncle Torn!" Jakie urged, tugging on Torns arm. Torn refused to move in protest. "Come on! Please?" Jak laughed._

"_Go on, Torn!" he called. _

"_Yeah, it'll do you some good!" Daxter added, "hey! Sunny! Get your brother out of the glove compartment!" He quickly scampered off. Jak laughed quietly. _

"_Alright, come on Jakie! Leave Torn out of it!" he called. Jakie whined in protest, but gave in. _

"_Oh, all right!" she agreed. She ran to sit by her father, whom quickly pulled her into a playful hug. Jakie giggled. "Dad! Come on! Cut that out!" The two wrestled with each other for a few minutes until Jak had Jakie pinned against the ground." Dad! No fair! You're stronger than I am!"_

"_That may be so…" he answered, then kissed her forehead, "I love you more than anything in the world. You know that, don't you?" Jakie giggled again and nodded._

"_I love you too, dad," she said. Jak let her get up._

"_Good. Now go play."_

I smiled. I did love my dad more than I would ever admit to anyone's face. But now that he was dead… what could I do? I wanted him back. I'd gladly give up my own life to have him here again. Sometimes when I think about him too much and end up crying, I'd give up my whole life just to have him be there, hugging me tightly, telling me everything would be all right… then carry me to bed and tuck me in like he used to when I was little. He'd still be here if it hadn't been for those stupid death bots! But what's done is done. He was gone and there was nothing I could do about it… at the moment, at least.

I reluctantly reached in my pocket and pulled out a picture of the family that I've had since Mar was a child. It was of me, dad, Dawn, Torn, Daxter, Sunny and Red, some of dad's old friends, and Tess. All of us were out at that old oasis, having fun. I smiled as it brought back a few more memories of the old days. Those were good times… dad always told me he wanted me to have a much better childhood than he did. Well, I did. If only he could hear me, though…

I finally decided that sleep was impossible, considering that just looking at that old picture made me feel like I had a huge obligation. And I sort of did… I had to finish that machine.

* * *

A/N:ok, not my best work. Definately not my best work. bit it'll get better. promise. and if you reveiw, I'll love you forever.


	2. Chapter 2: Malfunction

Chapter Two

I had worked all night last night, surprisingly. I wish I knew why, but it was as if something were compelling me to finish it. Don't get me wrong; I wanted to finish it very badly. The sooner the better. But I was nearly shocked when morning came that I had actually finished it. I could hardly believe it. I stood back, admiring my hard work, until Dawn waltzed in and interrupted my thoughts.

"Morning, Jakie!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Morning, Dawn," I answered. I admit, staying up all night can really do stuff to you. I'm not much of a morning person, anyway. I giggled when I saw the look on Dawns face when she saw the finished time travel machine. It was priceless.

"You finished it!" she exclaimed. I nodded proudly. I always took a lot of pride in my work, even if it was only a small trinket. Well, now to see if dawn was up for a good test drive…

"How about after breakfast we-" I was cut off.

"YES! Let's go!" she exclaimed. I cocked an eyebrow, and then giggled.

"Well, aren't you anxious?" I teased. "Come on. Let's get something to eat before anything happens. Besides, we have to be prepared for anything, remember."

"Oh, fine!" Dawn hopped onto my shoulder as usual. I smirked, but walked out of my garage and into the house.

I ate quickly, because I wanted to get to my dad's gun arsenal. Going back to save him from dying would call for a good weapon. Only problem was what to take. My favorite gun was the Peacemaker, but that was too powerful, and didn't have much ammo capacity. There was always the blaster as well, which was my second favorite. I didn't like a Vulcan too much. Too heavy, and I always have trouble aiming it. Hell, I'll just take the blaster. That was my best bet.

Once Dawn and I had finished everything up, I went to the back room to change clothes, then I grabbed the blaster, loaded it, and met Dawn out in the garage by the machine.

"Well… this is our only shot, Dawn… If we screw this up, we'll never see our fathers again," I said.

"I know that. Now just get that thing in gear!" Dawn responded, almost jumping up and down in anticipation. I scoffed and started putting in the coordinates.

Once I was done with that nonsense, I jumped into the car and started pushing buttons. I didn't have to wait for Dawn, considering she'd long since been in it.

"Ready?" I asked. She nodded anxiously. I watched at the warp gate started glowing brightly, while the engines hummed loudly. I took a deep breath, and pushed the launch button. The small car that Dawn and I sat in slowly moved along the tracks, then accelerated forwards, strait into the warp gate…

I don't remember the ride to well, but I do remember hitting the ground hard, tumbling over a few times, then landing flat on his stomach on solid concrete. That hurt… And to make things worse, Dawn landed right on top of me. That REALLY hurt… I took a few minutes to gather my strength, and then I slowly sat up. Everything seemed in order, until I realized that something had gone wrong.

"Dawn… we're standing in front of the pumping station outside of Haven City…" I said in near shock.

"Haven City? What the hell are we doing here?" Dawn demanded.

"I don't know… Something must've gone wrong…" I guessed. I cautiously approached the city entrance, and it automatically opened, allowing me passage through. Dawn quickly scampered up my leg and onto my shoulder. This was my first glimpse of Haven city in my life; minus a few things my dad had shown me in the past. Well, here goes nothing… the gate opened and I took my first steps into the city. But what I saw wasn't what I'd hoped we'd see.

"This… is very bad…" I managed to say.

"Why, Jakie?" Dawn asked me. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"It's not how dad explained it to me… Dawn… we went way to far back!"


	3. Chapter 3: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Chapter 3

"WHAT!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I think we went too far back… stupid warp gate must've malfunctioned or something…" I answered. We had gone back, but not to the right time. The Krimzon Guards still wore red armor, there was no sign of any metal heads of death bots, and, well, you get my point. But maybe it wasn't before dad's time… I hoped it wasn't. I wandered around the city streets, hoping for some sign that I could use to figure things out. And oddly enough, my plea was answered. I heard the mention of my father's name: Jak. A couple of KG's that were standing around talking to each other were talking about my father! He was here! But where was the question.

My first order of business was locating the Underground Hideout. Dad never really bothered to tell me where it was, but he said it was on the more… dirty side of the city. And it looked like I wasn't far, either. I followed the docks for a while, just to explore, but my 'fun' ended when I left the docks. The first thing I heard was gunshots, and the KG's yelling at someone. I didn't know whom, but I had a hunch. I quickly scaled one of the buildings and ran along the rooftops towards the noises.

There are times when I hate being right. There was my father, racing along the streets in a zoomer, with several KG's on his tail. The first thing that crossed my mind was to pull of my blast and start shooting like mad, but Dawn had a better idea.

"Jakie, there's a parked zoomer! Let's grab it!" she exclaimed. I quickly nodded, jumped down and ran for the vehicle. As soon as I got there, I shoved on the helmet I found on the seat (it was best if I hid my face for now so dad wouldn't freak out or something), started up the zoomer and followed as fast as I could.

"Dawn, get on the blaster and shoot the bastards down!" I ordered. I quickly got up close to one of them and Dawn started laying down fire on him until his zoomer caught fire and crashed. It was the same with the others, except the last one. We hit a sharp turn, and then I kicked the zoomer up to full speed and back flipped off just before the two zoomers collided and cause an explosion. When the smoke died down, Dawn and I both smirked.

"That was cool! Do it again!" Dawn said. I rolled my eyes and took off my helmet, just in time to see my father advancing towards the wreckage that I'd caused. I couldn't tell if it was disbelief on his face or not, but I turned my attention toward the other KG's (not on zoomers) advancing. I grabbed my gun and prepared for combat. I was so busy anticipating the upcoming battle that I didn't notice my father approaching me, obviously wanting to know who the hell I was, but he also caught sight of the Krimzon Guards and also prepared his gun.

The second they got too close I started shooting like crazy, as did my dad. Since it was long range combat, we dodged any and all bullets fired at us, and open fired until there was nothing left moving, since all the civilians had run off. I lowered my gun looking proudly at my work, but that was interrupted by dad's voice.

"And just who the hell are you?" he asked in a gruff tone. Jeeze, I didn't know he was this demanding. I turned, and accidentally ended up staring at his eyes. Exactly like mine, just like I remember. But I didn't let myself get distracted from answering.

"The one who just saved your ass, if I'm not mistaken," I answered in the same tone. Again, he was interrupted, but this time by another zoomer that seated a much younger looking Torn and Ashelin. The two instantly jumped out and approached Jak.

"Jak, what the hell happened?" he demanded. Jeeze, he's even grumpier than he was when I was little.

"I don't know," Jak answered, forgetting all about me. I took it to my advantage and backed away.

"The guards just got pissed at us for no reason!" Daxter finished.

"And then whoever she is appeared out of nowhere," Jak said, pointing at me. I just pretended not to listen. There was a very brief moment of silence.

"Is it just me or does she almost look exactly like you, Jak?" Ashelin pointed out. Oh, NOW they notice! About fucking time!

"I didn't really notice that…" Jak answered, glancing at me again.

"Well, aside from that," Torn interrupted, "we still have to investigate that crash sight out my the pumping station." My face must've turned seventeen different shades of red, because they were talking about that piece of crap machine of mine that malfunctioned on the way here.

"Jakie… think we should say something?" Dawn whispered. I shook my head.

"Not at the moment," I answered. I'm not normally thing grumpy, but hey, after what I'd been through, I was tired. And I wasn't really in the mood for questioning. Again, I was rudely interrupted by the KG's. DAMN THEM!

"Halt! You are all under arrest!" one yelled and the group surrounded us and pointed their weapons menacingly. I growled.

"I am so sick of you people!" I exclaimed. "How many times do I have to kick your sorry asses before you bastards just fuck off already!" Obviously I was very mad at this point. I reached for my blaster again, but I was cut off again. ARGH! I'm getting tired of being interrupted!

"Let's get back to the hideout!" Torn yelled. I didn't expect them to include me, but to my surprise, Ashelin grabbed my arm and dragged me into the zoomer and all of us raced off to the hideout.

Of course, the die hard ones in their own vehicles followed, trying to shoot us down. That didn't work out too well for them, considering dad and I were on the defensive side, shooting them all down as they came. Easy stuff. Especially with all the upgrades I'd added to my blaster over the years. And I loved watching the stupid guards try frantically to get out of the zoomer before it crashed.

Soon enough we were all back at the Underground hideout. I wish I knew why they'd bothered to drag me along, but I had a hunch. And there are times when I'm sick of being right all the time. I didn't even have to look up to notice their eyes boring holes in my skull. Especially Jak. But he didn't know who I was. And just knowing that little fact kind of made me feel a little cocky.

"Alright, kid," I heard Torn start to say in his usual gruff tone, "Just who the hell are you?" Oh boy… how to answer this… I'll just give him my name first.

"Jakie," I answered briefly, still trying to figure out how I was going to break things to them without getting killed. I was so busy thinking about that, that I didn't even notice Dawn taking my place in the conversation. And it stayed like that until I heard another mention of the wreckage by the pumping station. My face turned red again, but this time they noticed. But before anyone could ask, I spoke up.

"Oh, about that… my fault…" I said with a small, nervous laugh. "The damn thing malfunctioned and crash landed."

"That explains it," Ashelin declared.

"Congrats, Jakie. That was probably the crappiest machine you've ever built," Dawn commented. I scoffed.

"Thanks for the encouragement," I answered sarcastically. Things were starting to get complex. The longer things went on, the more they wanted to know who I was and where I came from, and the more I wanted to just blurt out the truth right then and there. But I couldn't do that, considering that I'd probably get my head knocked off.

While I was busy contemplating all of this, something must've come up, because uncle Torn started giving dad orders to go rescue Vin. I remember dad telling me about him several years back. From what I hear, he's a computer geek.

"And what about us?" Dawn demanded once Torn finished explaining.

"You two can come with me," Jak invited. Perfect! Thank you, dad! Now I can break the news! I love you! I hid my excitement and stood.

"You're serious?" I asked in a plain tone.

"We need someone to cover our ass," Daxter explained. But I could tell that wasn't the case. Just by the look in dad's eyes, I could tell it was because he wanted to speak with me and get some answers.


	4. Chapter 4: Do You Believe Me Now?

Chapter 4 

The sun was starting to disappear behind the horizon. The sky was now red, gold, and other beautiful colors that gave it some persona. Dad, Daxter, Dawn and I were on our way towards Vin. I sat next to dad in silence, still trying to get my thoughts in order. The best approach so far was just coming out and saying that I was his only daughter then explaining what had happened and why I was there.

"Alright, kid," dad started in his tough 'I-want-answers-right-now' voice, "Who the hell are you really?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"There's a reason why you saved my ass back there, and why you look like me. I want to know why," he declared. Damn, isn't he grouchy today… he probably thinks I'm some kind of weirdo stalker or something. Well, here goes nothing…

"Well, if you want the straight and solid truth…" I started, "it's because I'm your daughter." He nearly choked and swerved off to the side. Luckily we all managed to jump out before it crashed into the wall and blew up. Dad fell to one knee, still coughing, trying to register what I'd just said. Daxter hit him on the back several times while Dawn and I stood off to the side, watching, and wondering if I'd just made the right move.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded to know once he could breathe again. "I don't have a daughter!" I inwardly smirked.

"No, not in this particular time and place," I agreed, "However, years in the future you do." I could tell he was confused by all of this nonsense I was talking, even though he was trying to put on his 'tough guy' act. Yeah that's right… I can see right through your little act, dad. Before he could open his mouth to protest, I continued my explanation. "Remember that wreckage that I claimed? It was a time travel machine that I built. But the first time I used it, it malfunctioned and here I am."

"And me," Dawn chimed in.

"I can understand that this is hard for you to swallow, but like it or not, I am your own flesh and blood," I finished. I didn't even have to look at him to know that he was staring blankly at me. He was having a hard time believing what I was saying was true. But I didn't mind. Eventually he'd get used to the whole thing.

I commandeered another zoomer and climbed into the drivers seat. I figured I'd better give dad a chance to let the news soak in. After a moment he jumped into the passenger seat, gave me a funny look, and stared at the road ahead. At the halfway mark, I knew he was staring at me again. He was examining my features closely, taking in every bit a detail he could, trying to convince himself of Mar knows what.

"Pull over for a moment, Jakie," he ordered in a soft tone. I obeyed knowing what it was about. I pulled off to the side of the road and parked in an ally where we could talk without anyone hearing. He looked back at Daxter. "Dax, could we have a moment alone?" Daxter patted Jak's back.

"Sure, buddy," he answered and jumped off the side of the zoomer and around the back. I gave Dawn one of my cute 'you-know-what-I-want-you-to-do' looks. Dawn sighed.

"Fine, Jakie," she answered, following Daxter.

"You want proof of the relation, don't you?" I asked, keeping my voice down. I wasn't surprised when he nodded.

"If you really are who you say you are-" she started.

"Your daughter," I corrected.

"Yes. Anyways, If you are, then I want you to prove it before I can believe something like that." I understood him completely. But I had all the proof in the world.

"What kind of evidence are you looking for? Anything in particular?" I asked. He thought for a moment, and then shook his head. I knew exactly what to show him. I reached in my back pocket and pulled out that old worn out picture of the whole 'family' down at the oasis. "This is all I have on me at the moment." I gave it to him and he looked it over. "It's the only picture of the entire gang that was ever taken. It was one of the only times anyone could get Torn to join the group." I scooted closer and looked at the picture over dad's shoulder.

"If it's of all of us, then where's your mother?" he asked, looking at me.

"She died shortly after I was born…" I answered. He didn't reply. "When I was small, you were always out adventuring with Daxter and Torn. When I got older I started begging you to take me on your adventures, and that's basically when you started teaching me to protect myself." I paused. I felt tears coming. No, I refuse to start crying! Jakie, stop it! Ok… just breathe and keep going. "On the weekends the entire family would drive down to that oasis and just kick back…" Oh great. I was choking up. Damn it, Jakie, stop it!

"Jakie…" he started. Oh no, he's going to ask why I'm crying! "I still want to know why you're here and not back in your own time." He handed the picture back to me and I just put it up on the dashboard. But when I looked at his eyes, I couldn't stop myself. I choked up completely, but refused to start crying like a child. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked back at his eyes.

"I'm here because you were killed by a bunch of death bots and metal heads," I said as clearly as I could, then I just broke down in tears. Just thinking about my dad's death was upsetting. I was too upset to notice dad's shocked expression.

"Jakie," he started, but didn't say anything else after that. I felt him gently hug me in an attempt of comfort. I tried like hell to stop my tears, but I was very unsuccessful. That was when Daxter and Dawn poked their heads up and saw me crying like a child into my dad's shoulder. Dawn climbed up onto hood, and Daxter climbed around onto the dashboard and looked at the picture, then at me. They believed me. I couldn't believe it. They actually believed I was telling the truth…

Once I'd finished crying and such, we sped off on our way to rescue Vin. But first things first. Dad insisted that we stop off at a bar so that Dawn and I could have a break from all the nonsense we've been though. And who am I to refuse an offer like that? Well, at least I'm old enough to drink. Just like what uncle Torn used to say to me sometimes. 'Jakie, if you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink and celebrate it.' I smiled a little. Good ol' uncle Torn… I can't even begin to describe how much I miss him. I guess he was my favorite (besides dad, of course) because he was the guy that everyone wanted to be" the cool, quiet guy in the back. He wasn't going to go dancing with you, but he'd cover your back. Well, here we are…

Dad and I sat at the bar. There was hardly anyone there, except maybe a few passed out KG's. Heh… Talk about sleeping on the job. I looked up at dad again and tried to read his eyes, but it was almost impossible to figure out what he was thinking. I guess now would be the ideal time to ask…well, here goes nothing…

"Da-Jak," I quickly corrected myself just incase he didn't believe me. "Do you believe me now?" There was another awkward silence between us.

"It's hard to say," he answered, keeping his voice down. I should've known he would say that. I know how difficult it is to get a strait answer out of him sometimes. Usually when he'd answer me like that, I'd just drop the whole thing. But now, this was different. I had to know if he believed me, or just thought I was some nut case fresh out of the psycho ward! I hated being kept in such suspense! If he did think I was crazy, then what the hell was I going to do? How could I PROOVE once and for all that he and I are father and child? This is driving me absolutely insane, and it won't stop until I AM crazy! That's why I have to know! I have to- "Jakie…" oops, forgot about them.

It was Daxter. He'd jumped off of Jak's shoulder onto to counter and then onto my shoulder.

"If you're Jak's kid, then who is she?" he asked, pointing at Dawn, who was sitting on my other shoulder. I looked at my ottsel in disbelief. She didn't tell Daxter that she was his daughter! Dawn, you are so in for it…

"Um… slipped my mind?" Dawn tried to excuse herself. I just gave her the cold shoulder and looked back at Daxter.

"She's your daughter. Obviously," I answered.

"Knew it," Daxter answered, and then jumped back onto the counter. For another long while, we all sat in silence. Nobody had anything to say about the whole matter. I know I didn't. I knew that dad was still trying to let this settle, and it was hard for him. That's ok, though. Dad, take as long as you need.

About and hour passed before we decided it was time to leave and go rescue Vin. I let dad drive this time, partly because he offered to. I jumped into the passenger seat, and Dawn jumped into the back, as did Daxter. Well, Daxter was taking this much better than dad was, that's for sure. Unfortunately, dad 'accidentally' rammed into a KG, and their immediate response was chasing us down. And to add to the list, no matter how many I shot down, they were catching up quickly. Why, oh why, did dad have to run over that KG? Well, maybe the reason we're slowing down is because there's too many of us in this thing? Hell… it's worth a shot.

"Dad, I think there's too many of us in here and it's slowing us down!" I called. He stared back at me.

"Jakie, don't!" he yelled. Too late. Sorry, pop. I jumped off the back and grabbed onto a pole that was holding up one of the tapestries. I watched dad speed off without me, going a bit faster than he was a moment ago. Or maybe that was just me. But either way, the KG's were after my ass too. I grabbed my blaster and shot a few down, then jumped up on the rooftops and ran. I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore. I ended up in the forest where Samos' tree thing was. I was safe from the KG's… for now.


	5. Chapter 5: A Moment Alone

A/N: I don't own the song that I stuck in here… I don't really know what it's called, or who wrote it, but I know that it's definitely not mine.   
Chapter 5 

Now came the real test. Now I'd know for sure if dad believed me or not. If he did believe me, he'd definitely come to my rescue. If he just thought I was another psychopath, he wouldn't bother with me. But until then, I'd have to find something to keep me busy… I looked at my blaster. I only had a couple of clips left. Hmmm… there's a project. Find more ammo. Shouldn't be too hard. Ok… first things first, get as far away from the city entrance as possible. If dad does come back for me, I have to make him put some effort into finding me. That would prove he believes me!

Without thinking, I jumped into a small river just underneath me and started swimming. I swam through the small tunnel to the other side of the forest where the lake was even deeper. I'd always loved to swim. Ever since I was little and dad first taught me how, swimming had always made me feel happy, even when my day was crummy. I swam around for a little while, and occasionally dove under the waters surface to see how long I could hold my breath, and then I just floated on my back for a little while. I admit I felt relaxed now. Ever since I'd got here Dawn and I were very tense, and we had to be awake and alert every second. Now, since there was nothing around for miles, I could finally just kick back and wait things out. I was in my own little world now…

I shifted in the water so that I was in swimming position again. I figured that it was time I moved on… but one more dive. I took a deep breath and dove under water and swam down as far as I could, without being too far from the surface. I stayed there for a while, listening to the sounds of the water that surrounded me. After floating for a moment, I opened my eyes and stared up at the sky that was blurred from the water. For some reason, I always loved being fully submerged in the water and then looking up at the sky. I don't know why, but it helps relax me. Soon enough, my chest felt like it was about to explode. Time to come back up. I reluctantly surfaced and exhaled, allowing air to flow into my lungs again. I floated on my back again until I reached shore, and then I continued on my way.

I opened my eyes groggily. Oh great. I'd fallen asleep again. It's usually something I do after swimming. When I was back home in Spargus I didn't mind it so much, but now that I'm in Haven, it's become a bad habit. I looked up at the sky. The sun was gone. Now the sky was dotted with stars, and the moon hung up high in the sky. There was still no one around. I felt my heart sink at first. No one had come for me…

"Maybe he's still looking for me?" I said to myself, trying to cheer up a little. I bit my lip. Ok, Jakie, just be patient. You've been alone before. This is no different. I rubbed my eyes and stood up. Well, at least I could go for another swim now that I was rested up. And now it was far more peaceful and relaxing.

I left my gun and the rest of my weapons at the shore and drove into the water. I swam for a little while, and then I just floated there, for what seemed like hours, staring up at the night sky.

"Beautiful…" I whispered to myself. The whole time I'd almost forgotten about my dad, Dawn, Uncle Torn, and all else. I wished it could last eternity, but in the back of my mind, I knew that would never happen. But right now, I didn't care. I was comfortable now, and that's all that mattered to me. For a while I started wondering about various things like if I should go back to the underground and what I would do if I ended up trapped here. After thinking about all of this, I finally decided that this lake was my place where I would come to be alone with only my thoughts as company. This lake was officially dubbed as my secret spot that no one, not even Dawn, would or could ever know about. I smiled softly, thinking about it.

Oddly enough, I found myself quietly singing something that dad used to sing to me when I was little…

_Step by step, heart to heart, left right left  
We all fall down like toy soldiers  
Bit by bit torn apart We never win  
But the battle wages on for toy soldiers_

I'd always loved that song. I still do to this day. Usually when I was working I'd sing it or something else, depending on what I was thinking about. And it's obvious that I usually thought about dad. When I got tired again I swam back to shore with all of my weapons and before I knew it, I'd conked out… again.

This time when I woke up, I felt something soft underneath me. What the…? Was I dreaming? No… this was way too real. I could hear faint voices in another room talking. Sounded like Torn… Ashelin… dad and Daxter. I was back at the Underground. Wait… Underground! Holy… he DID believe me! I was dumbstruck. I thought for sure this was going to be harder than this.

"If what you're saying is true, Jak, then what are we going to do with her?" I hear Uncle Torn ask.

"I don't really know. I'm not even sure if I fully believe her," Jak answered.

"Well, we can't just throw her out on the streets," Ashelin interjected. No kidding, Ashe.

"From what I've seen, she could be a valuable asset to the Underground. That kid can definitely kick some ass," Torn continued. That's pretty typical of him…

"That's true," Ashelin agreed, "But she doesn't exactly belong here." Nice…

"That's not her fault," Daxter argued. Weird to hear him being serious for once.

"She told me she came here to save my life," Jak explained. Damn right, dad! You tell them!

"Save your life?" Ashelin repeated.

"She said I was killed by a bunch of metal heads and Krimzon Guard death bots," Jak continued, "and she came back in time to save my life when she accidentally landed here."

"Looks like we'll have to let her stay until we can figure out just what the hell is going on," Torn declared, "But while she's here, she has to make herself useful, Jak."

"Fine then. I'll talk to her when she wakes up," Jak agreed. I inwardly smiled. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all… baring that thought in mind, I fell back asleep again.


	6. Chapter 6: Uncle Torn's Mission

Chapter 6 

When I woke up, it was still a bit dark. I concluded that it was just before the crack of dawn. I don't really care much about what time it is, because I never had any reason to. I usually just started wrenching when I woke up, and stopped when I felt tired. I sat up and rubbed my eyes to help them adjust to the light, then examined my surroundings. Dawn was curled up beside me on the cot, my weapons, another cot and… what the…? Uncle Torn?

Yep. Uncle Torn. He was sleeping in the cot next to me, his hair spread over the pillow and… Dear lord, the man was drooling! Yeah. The creepy meter just went from about a 2 way up to around an 8. I shakily leaned forward.

"Torn…?" I whispered. Nothing. "Uncle Torn?" Still nothing. Then I did one of the stupidest things in my life. I reached out to touch him. Now, I realize that I've done some pretty stupid things in my lifetime. I know that stealing Kleiver's keys to go out joyriding in one of his vehicles was a stupid move, and trying to have a conversation with a metal head was a stupid move, but touching a man who carries around a sharp bowie knife everyday and spends every day of his current life waging war against the most powerful man in Haven city while he's sleeping is beyond a stupid move.

I quickly ducked as he jumped up and slashed at the air, just missing my face by an inch. I have no idea what came over me. I guess my common sense must've been off someplace else. He started to swing again, but stopped when he saw that it was just me.

"Jakie," he said quietly. I breathed a sigh of relief. That was too close for comfort. I sat up again.

"Sorry to wake you up…" I said, keeping my voice down since others were still asleep.

"It's fine. I wanted to talk to you, but I fell asleep while waiting," he explained. He wanted to talk to me? What about? This was definitely something to ponder on…

"Talk to me…?" I repeated, "About what?" He sat down on the cot in front of me.

"Jak told us," he said simply. Oh. I should have known it'd be about this…

"I know… I heard you guys talking last night…" I responded. There was an awkward moment of silence.

"He also showed us this," Torn continued, and then pulled out my family picture from his pocket, and turned it over. Uh oh… they'd read the list of names on the back. I'd written that down a while back so I'd never forget anyone in the family. I quickly scanned the list, even though I knew it by heart:

Dad/Jak

Me/Jakie

Daxter

Dawn

Red

Sunny

Tess

Uncle Torn

Aunt Ashelin

Sig

Gramps/Samos

Pecker (aka Featherbrain)

I could already tell what he wanted to know. He wanted to know what relation he had to me. But I'd stay quiet and let him ask first.

"What do I have to do with any of this?" he asked.

"Well, you're not really my uncle. It's just something I started calling you one day and it just stuck," I explained, "Same story with Ashelin and Samos." I saw the serious expression on his face soften a little. "But you were practically a relative. After all, you did help teach me how to fight."

"You're something else, kid. I'll give you that," he said smirking. I smirked back.

"Thanks."

"You can stay here as long as you want, on the condition that you make yourself useful," Torn stated, changing the subject completely. I inwardly smirked. Good ol' uncle Torn…

"Let me guess… you want my to join the fight for the city?" Torn gave me that same crooked smile and nodded. I chuckled.

"We need fighters like you and Jak. So what do you say?"

"Sounds good to me, Uncle Torn," I answered, trying to tease him a little. His face remained emotionless. Well, it was worth a shot. He eventually stood up and started towards to door, motioning for me to follow. I tilted my head a little, but then I followed him to his map-covered desk.

"Since your fighting for the Underground now, I've got a good mission for you," he explained. "The Baron sent some guards out to the pumping station to shut the water off again. I want you to go turn it back on and make sure it stays on." That's all? EASY!

"Alright then," I agreed, "I'll just grab my gun and-" he stopped me right there.

"One more thing, Jakie. I hope I'm not wasting this, but here's a damage upgrade for your weapon," he said, tossing me a gun mod. Sweet! Now I could do double the damage to the KG's! Oh, this was going to be fun… I smiled at him.

"Thanks," I said. He responded with a nod and I left to wake up Dawn and grab my blaster.

"So, Jakie, are you sure you remember where the pumping station is?" Dawn asked me as we zoomed towards the docks.

"Yes, Dawn, I remember," I answered, still concentrating on the road. I was trying to go fast and avoid hitting any KG's at the same time. But like it would matter. I could kick their asses any day, no matter how many there were. To think that the baron had such a weak security force… poor diluted sap…

Finally, Dawn and I reached the pumping station. That stupid screw up of a machine was still there only pushed off to the side. Just like Dawn said, that's got to be the most piece of crap machine I've ever built. Well, at lease we made it in one piece. Now… to find the valve… My eyes scanned the area carefully, not missing a single detail. Slowly, I pulled out my upgraded blaster and shot a few metal heads that were in my way, and I continued on. The valve was surprisingly easy to find. However, a small fleet of Krimzon Guards guarded it. Oh joy. Well, here goes nothing.

I took a deep breath, gripped my blaster tightly, and then I jumped up, ready to fight my way through to that valve.

"Halt! You are under arrest!" one of them yelled. I smirked, and pulled the trigger. Several of them fell before another fleet, probably for backup came out of nowhere. The gun upgrade Uncle Torn gave me was really coming in handy. Or, it was. One of them knocked it out of my hands, and then another knocked me flat on my back next to the pipe.

"Jakie! Jakie, get up!" Dawn screamed at me. I was in a bit of a daze at the moment, but then caught a glimpse of a metal pole that was broken and sharpened at the tip. Hello… I snatched it and started using it as a sword. Now, I could tell all about how I fought off all those KG's and never got a scratch, but that's not how it happened. There I was, backed into a corner, well a cliff actually, Dawn still on my shoulder, and the remaining KG's slowly approaching, charging up their weapons. Oh boy…

"Jakie, it's been nice knowing you," Dawn said. I gritted my teeth. I threw the pole into my other hand, and clenched my fist. I couldn't run strait for them, or I'd get zapped. All I could do pull a long range attack, but I didn't have my gun… unless I was too close to get hit… Yes, Jakie, you're a genius! I threw the pole like a spear and it stuck into the middle guards face. Then I dashed forward and threw a strong kick, landing a solid blow in one's stomach, and then I struck my fist through another one's helmet. I heard a satisfying crack, and he fell over the side of the cliff. Three guards left…

With a sharp yank, I pulled the pole out of the dead guards face and easily took out the last three. I took a moment to admire my work before examining the valve. By the end of the battle I had more than my fair share of cuts and scratches, and my hand was really cut up from the glass in that one guards helmet. But like I cared. I turned the Slums water back on, and then broke the lever off. That should do it… Now to get back to the hideout…

Once I got there, the first thing I heard was an argument. Apparently, Ashelin was chewing Uncle Torn's ass out for sending me on this mission.

"I can't believe you. You sent her on a suicide mission!" Ashelin exclaimed.

"I'm confident enough that she'll do fine," Torn answered.

"Do you have any idea how many Krimzon Guards will be there guarding that thing!" Heh, yeah, there were too many of them for my tastes. "Torn, she'll get herself killed! I'm going after her."

"Ashe, wait. Just give it a little time." That's when I decided to waltz in.

"Someone mention me?" I asked. Uncle Torn stood up in surprise.

"Jakie!" he exclaimed, "I knew you'd be back." Dawn jumped up on the table. Yeah, you got that right, uncle.

"Jakie, how did you survive all of that?" Ashelin asked, astonished by my victory. I smiled. I actually had fun killing all those KG's. It felt good to give them a piece of my mind for a change…

"I used a sharpened metal pole as a sword," I answered her. I could tell she was amazed that I'd survived a fight like that. To tell the truth, so was I. Well, aside from all that, I was a bit tired, and my hand was still aching from punching that guard in the face. Time to go to my secret place again…

"Excellent job, Jakie," Uncle Torn congratulated me again. I half smiled then

"Thanks… where's dad?" I asked, looking around.

"Out on a mission," Torn answered. I should've known… Dawn jumped off my shoulder and onto Torn's desk. She stretched her small arms and yawned.

"Well, I'm going to take a small nap. That wore me out," she stated. I shrugged.

"Do whatever you want, Dawn," I answered, "I'm going out again."


	7. Chapter 7: Rescue Mission

A/N:I finally got a reveiw! YAY! Thankies! I love you! then again, I love all my readers! - so... (gets to work on chapter 8)

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Chapter 7

Well, here I am again… my secret place… floating on my back in the cool, clear water, in my own little world. How long had I been there? I wasn't sure, but time didn't matter to me very much. At least not right now. As I floated there, I couldn't help but start thinking about why I'd come here in the first place. I still remember that day well… it's as clear in my mind as it was when it happened. I remember exactly how I felt, too. Afraid, alone, angry… it was just too much.

I closed my eyes and thought back to my childhood. Back when dad was alive and well, as were everyone else. I always took the ones I loved for granted. I guess it was because I never thought anything would happen to them. Boy was I wrong… As much as I didn't want to, the memory of the whole thing slowly overthrew the rest of my mind, and all I could do was think about it…

_Jakie stood next to her father, tightly gripping his hand. Daxter was on his shoulder, while Dawn was on Jakie's shoulder. Everyone else was standing around, trying to figure out what they were going to do. _

"_The metal heads are getting closer by the minute! If they reach the city, then we're done for!" Torn exclaimed. Jakie cringed slightly and let out a small whimper. Jak held her hand even tighter to try and comfort her a little more. "Our only chance is if we go out there and take them out before they reach the city!"_

"_Hey! But that's suicide!" Daxter argued. "Did you see how many of them there were!" _

"_It's our only chance," Torn continued. _

"_Torn's right. It's crazy, but it's the only way to save the city," Ashelin agreed. Jakie, being as young as she was, let go of her Jak's hand and stepped up to Torn. _

"_Uncle Torn…" she started, but she didn't have to finish for Torn to know what she was about to say. He knelt down and patted her head lightly. _

"_Don't worry, kid. We'll be back before you know it," he assured her. Jakie tried to smile, but had a hard time. _

"_Right," Ashelin began, "Torn, Jak, Daxter, Sig, and I will head out to try and prevent as many from entering the city as possible. Tess and Samos will get everyone else someplace safe." Everyone agreed. Jak knelt down and hugged Jakie tightly before leaving._

"_Don't worry, Jakie. Everything will be fine. I promise," he assured her. Then the group of fighters left._

Yeah… everything was fine all right… Dawn and I were the only one's left of the entire group! It's not nice to lie like that, dad. Especially to me! Your own flesh and blood! You're pride and joy! Why did you have promise me that things would be ok? Things weren't ok, and they never will be! All I want is to have you back…

But I can't…

I opened my eyes again and looked up at the sky. It was already afternoon. Wow, I'd been there for several hours now. But like I really cared. Time could stop completely for all I care! I wonder if dad's back from his mission yet… he probably is, but knowing Uncle Torn, he's sent him out again. But so what? Dad could take care of himself. As long as it's not against a whole fleet of wasteland metal heads, that is. I sighed deeply and finally decided that it was time to leave and get back to the hideout. I took my time swimming back to shore where my stuff was. To tell the truth… I didn't want to leave. But I had to.

Once I was back inside the city walls, I hijacked a zoomer and started back to the hideout. I decided that I'd go with traffic, and take a few 'shortcuts' so it would take me twice as long. Like I said, I was in no hurry to get back. No hurry at all… Well, ok, maybe I was a little anxious to see dad again, but other then that, I just kept things slow and steady… Wow, traffic is slow. Jeeze, they should raise the speed limit in this city a little.

During my long trip, I had to slap myself a couple times mentally to keep myself awake. Luckily I reached the hideout without falling asleep behind the wheel, thank the Precursors. But the moment I walked in the door, I was nearly jumped.

"About time!" Dawn exclaimed. "Where the hell were you this whole time!"

"Trying to forget about how badly I screwed my hand up," I lied.

"We've been trying to contact you for the past hour!" Torn added. I shrugged.

"Sorry, Uncle. Guess I forgot to turn it on," I lied again. He sighed with annoyance. Dawn jumped back on my shoulder.

"Jak still hasn't reported back," he explained. My heart skipped a beat.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, hiding how nervous I was.

"It's been hours since he left, and he hasn't come back, or tried to contact one of us," Torn explained, "I've sent Ashelin after him, and she hasn't reported back yet either." Once again, my heart skipped two beats and jumped into my throat. "Jakie, I want you to go look for them incase something happened." I took a moment to find my voice.

"Where do I go?"

"I can't really tell you. Krew was the one who sent him, so you'll have to go there and ask him yourself." Oh man… dad told me about Krew. I shuddered just thinking about him. But, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

"Ok, then. I'll be back as soon as I can," I assured him.


	8. Chapter 8: Captured in the Sewers

A/N: yay! 2 reveiws! and to answer the question I was asked... You won't find out who her mother is for a while... and I'm gettng to what happened to Dawns siblings. Just be patient and you'll find out a whole bunch of stuff in later chapters.

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Chapter 8

Well, there I was. Standing in front of Krew's bar. Oh boy… well, here goes nothing… Me and my reckless courage… I walked bravely into the bar, and there was Krew, in all his glory, along with Sig and… Tess? Wow, she's not an ottsel anymore. Oh well. I cleared my throat loudly, and got Krew's attention.

"Ah. You must be the one Torn sent," he said, hovering closer to me. Yeesh, he's even more ugly than dad described him to me.

"Yeah. That's me," I answered.

"Hmm… a bit scrawny for my taste… a bit too skinny, but you should do fine…So what can I do for you, young lady?" he continued with that disgusting smile that showed his yellow, decaying teeth. BLECH! I stayed as calm as I could.

"Where's Jak?" I asked as politely as I could.

"Jak? Jak who?" he was playing dumb. It was obvious that he knew I was out to kick some ass, and I didn't care who's it was.

"Listen, buddy," Dawn cut in, "we've had a rough day. Don't push it." I shook my head.

"Look, Torn told us to go after Jak, and that you knew where he was. So just give me an answer and I'll be on my way," I explained as briefly as I could.

"Bloodsuckers…" Krew muttered angrily, then decided to fess up.

"I sent Jak down into the Sewers," he answered. All right, now I knew what the hell I was doing. "If you go down there and come out alive I'll give you a weapon upgrade." Oh, NOW we're talking! Even though he was talking about how 'scrawny' I was again.

Finally I was out of there! Jeeze, that guy gave me the creeps, big time! I jumped on my zoomer as quick as I could, started it up and raced for the sewer entrance… of course, I had no clue where that was, so I'd have to go back and ask Uncle Torn for directions. And so, hitting a few KG's along the way for kicks, I made it back to the hideout in one piece.

"Jakie, what are you doing back?" Uncle Torn demanded when I walked in the door.

"I need to know where the entrance to the sewers is," I answered. "That Krew guy is creepy…" He chuckled lightly, and then looked at his maps.

"The entrance is right there," he said, pointing to a spot on his map. I quickly scanned it over several times, and memorized the area.

"Alright, I think I can remember that. Thanks, Uncle Torn." I could tell he wasn't to fond of the name I dubbed him, since every time I called him 'Uncle' his cheeks would turn a pale pinkish color. I grinned every time.

"Just go get Jak, Jakie," he ordered. Heh. Typical Uncle Torn… ok now… To the sewers!

I had a bit of a hard time finding the entrance at first. But once I got a good feel for the area, I found it. I jumped off the zoomer before I hit the breaks and watched it crash for one quick laugh before I went down there. I pulled out my blaster, looked at Dawn, and then walked down the tunnel and into the sewers. Yuck. I got about… say ten yards before…

"Halt! You are under arrest!" What the! I looked all around me. KG's had just popped out of nowhere and surrounded me completely! There were too many to take out, and if I tried to fight, well, their weapons were already charged up. Oh shit… This whole thing had been an ambush!

"Drop your weapon!" another yelled. I had no other choice. If I didn't just come along quietly, then I'd be killed. My fingers slowly loosened their grip and my blaster fell to my feet. Several of the ones that were closer to me grabbed my arms and cuffed me, while a few others decided it was a good idea to knock me around a little so I'd be weak enough to handle. I don't know what happened to Dawn, but I don't think it was anything good.

"Good work, men," came a gruff voice, "you've captured one of the Underground fighters." A beefy looking man pushed his way through the fleet of KG's, took one look at me, and chuckled. "Well, if it's isn't Jak, himself!" What! He thought I was my father! Well screw him!

"I'm not Jak…" I managed. I felt his hand cup around my jaw and force me to look him in the eye. Heh. Baron Praxis. Should've known…

"Well, well… and just who might you be, young lady?" he asked, still keeping his cocky attitude. He makes me so sick… even when dad told me stories of him when I was a child, I still didn't like him. I refused to answer him, only to receive a slap in the face. Ok, that hurt…

"With all due respect, sir," one of the guards chimed in, "This is the one responsible for the massacre at the pumping station." Praxis cocked an eyebrow.

"This scrawny little runt?" he asked. He better watch who he's calling a scrawny runt… "Well, in that case, she'll make a fine test subject." Wha… test subject! Screw this! Praxis, I will kill you! But before I could make a move to even try to get away, I was knocked in the back of the head and everything went black…


	9. Chapter 9: Two Months Later

Chapter 9 

Well, here I am… lying on that dreaded table in the middle of the room. It had been a while since my capture. Too long for my tastes. I estimated around two months. The Baron was doing the same thing to me as he did to my father. He was injecting me with dark eco, hoping that I'd become some kind of dark warrior. Well, he can just piss off, because if dad didn't cave in to the Baron's eco, then neither would I! Even though after every treatment I could hardly move, I wasn't going to allow myself to become one of his 'failed experiments'. And the one question that still had me baffled was why the hell hadn't anyone come to my rescue yet? Uh… I feel like I've been hit by a truck and trampled over by a wasteland metal head.

Anyhow, I'd just gotten another eco treatment, courtesy of Baron Praxis. My limbs felt numb, I could hardly keep my eyes open, and all I could think about was how I was going to kill that fucker. I wonder if dad felt the same way when he was in my position…he probably did. But all that mattered very little when I opened my eyes and saw… dad? Was I seeing things? I let my vision clear itself for a moment. Maybe I wasn't…

"Dad?" I whispered.

"Jakie," he answered, "I'm sorry." Heh. What's he sorry about? It's my fault I'm here in the first place. I felt him free my wrists and ankles and pick me up off the table.

"What the hell took you so long…" I muttered.

"We had trouble getting inside the palace," he answered. My feet touched the floor, and her slung my arm around his shoulders. I felt something jump up on my shoulder. I thought it was dawn at first, but then realized it was too heavy to be my ottsel.

"So, uh… you alright there, Jakie?" Daxter. I nodded slightly, still a bit worn out from all the eco that had been forced into my body.

"Come on. Torn's outside waiting for us with a zoomer," Jak said quietly.

To be honest, I have no clue how we got out of there. I was far too exhausted to keep track of where we were going. All I know is we got outside, where Uncle Torn was waiting for us with a zoomer.

"Jakie!" Dawn exclaimed happily, and then jumped on my shoulder.

"Nice to see you too…" I uttered. Well, it's nice to know that I was missed.

"Well done, Jak," Torn complimented. Heh, nice to see you too, Uncle. Well, at least he acknowledged my presence… Dad put me in the back and climbed into the front seat along with Daxter. Dawn curled up next to me, but that's all I really remember before conking out right then and there.

By the time I woke up, I was back at the Underground hideout. My entire body was in terrible pain, and everything was dark. Or is that because I have my eyes closed? Yep… it is. I struggled to open them, but it was like trying to move a tone of bricks. And for some reason, it felt like something was compressing my chest… When I finally did get my eyes open, everything was in a blur. Well, someone doesn't want my eyes to work properly. I let them adjust for a while and looked down to see what was making it so difficult to breathe and saw something orange and fuzzy. Dawn. I smiled weakly and closed my eyes again. I have to admit, Dawn had always been a good friend to me. Ever since we were kids, we had been nearly inseparable. She'd always been a loyal companion, although she was sometimes very annoying and would sometimes strike a nerve with me. But still, we grew up together, and as far as I could tell, we were going to die together.

Another ten or fifteen minutes passed, and my hearing began to come back. Only… it was much sharper than I remember it. Wow, maybe that dark eco had some positive effects as well! I could hear dad and Uncle Torn talking about something in the other room. Something that had to do with eco… I only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, since they were in another room, and they had lowered their voices.

"…Very bad… the same amount… dark eco…two months… almost two years," I heard Uncle Torn say.

"So then… almost as much… body… as me," dad responded.

"Right… now she's…just as much…danger…"

"We have to do something…"

"We can't afford… another fighter… one as good as her… Baron Praxis." That's when I decided to stop listening. Not only was it getting a little boring, but also I didn't want to hear about Praxis at the moment. I was in too much pain to be pissed at him.  
I just wanted to sleep… and that's what I did.


	10. Chapter 10: Torn's Gift to Jakie

A/N: awww... now I got two more reveiws! That melts my itty bitty heart! anyways, here's a short but sweet chapter about how Jakie gets her newest weapon! Next chapter will be Jakie kicking some more KG ass!

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Chapter 10

I couldn't really describe how I felt that next day. I felt incredible. I felt like I could wrestle a metal head! Why did I feel so rejuvenated? Beats me! But I loved it! I went on a couple missions for Uncle Torn (I nearly had to beg him for something to do to keep from dying of boredom), and then I fixed up my blaster a little. And after all that, I did a couple money pick-ups for Krew (that guy creeps me out to the max!) and after all that, I practiced on the gun course for a while. Now I was back at the hideout, waiting for something else to do. In the meantime, I was sitting there, fixing up my dad's morph gun while he ran around the city for a while doing who knows what. I sat there happily, dawn watching over my shoulder as usual, humming quietly to myself until finally…

"Jakie," Uncle Torn said suddenly. I perked up and looked over my shoulder at him.

"What's up?" I asked cheerfully. I put down my screwdriver, and set my dad's gun down next to me.

"I just remembered, I've got something for you." Huh? Well, this should be interesting… I stood up and approached his desk, trying to hide how overly curious I really was. "My friend in the Guard told me all about the massacre at the pumping station. How you kicked all their asses with nothing but a metal pole." My face turned red from embarrassment.

"Well, they knocked my gun out of my hands," I said timidly. "The pole just happened to be convenient." He gave me his usual 'I'm proud of you' smirk, and took a long thin white box out from under his desk.

"After I heard about that I figured it's best if you have a secondary weapon just in case," he explained, and then opened the box. My eyes went as wide as grapefruits. There was the most beautiful sword I'd ever seen. The blade was long and thin, curved slightly at the end. The hilt was either silver or platinum. I couldn't really tell, and there was a sapphire embedded in the tip. It was a simple design, but gorgeous.

"Wow…" was all I managed to say.

"I take it you like it," Uncle Torn said, snapping me out of my stupor. Hell yeah, I liked it!

"It's incredible," I answered. I love you, Uncle Torn.

"It's a strong blade," he started, "don't let me down, Jakie." Oh, you don't have to worry about that happening. If I can handle a fleet of KG's, then I can definitely handle anything else you can throw at me.

"Don't worry. I don't intend to any time soon," I answered, giving him a crooked smile. I took my new sword by the hit and examined it again. Oh, this was definitely a favor to repay. Now, not only did Uncle Torn teach me the sword (or knife in his case), but also he just gave me one. Now I knew why he was always one of my favorites. Still grinning, I turned and started heading for the door.

"Jakie, where are you going?" Dawn asked suddenly. I looked over my shoulder.

"I'm gonna go try this thing out on a few metal heads," I answered. Dawn jumped from the desk to my shoulder.

"Not without my you're not! You wouldn't last a second without me!" she exclaimed. I hide my laughter, smiled back at uncle Torn, then walked out the door into the open. And to my luck, Dad and Daxter had just gotten back from their mission.

"Hey dad. Hey Daxter," I greeted cheerfully, "I finished you're morph gun."

"Awesome. Thanks, Jakie," dad responded. I smiled then ran off to commandeer some poor schnook's zoomer.


	11. Chapter 11: Town Square Massacre

A/N: alright! First of all, a friend of mine wrote the battle scene for me. but only about half of it. (I REALLY suck at these things...) so don't give me all the credit for this chapter.

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Chapter 11

It's time like these I wish I'd paid a bit more attention to what I was doing rather than what I was going to do later on. I'd accidentally hijacked a Krimzon Guard vehicle, and now they were all out to get my ass. Again. I was practically kicking myself as I ran away from the guards pursuing me. I'd just gotten out of the industrial area of the city when I ran into another ambush. Joy. Ok, that's it. Time to show these Goons from Hell what Jakie Mar is made of! I stood there as they all slowly surrounded me. I slowly unsheathed my new sword and held it menacingly in front of me.

"Uh… Jakie… what are you doing?" Dawn asked nervously. I didn't answer. I got into a defensive stance and glared at all off them. Then the first of the century broke out. Jakie Mar vs. the entire Krimzon guard. Well, here goes nothing,

I slowly looked over my adversaries. Knowing that running was not an option (like I would anyway), I slowly held my hand up, and motioned for them to come to me. They all ran at me, which I responded to by jumping up and over one guards head, slashing him across the back, and then striking a few more that were closest to me. I had a few seconds to overlook my opponents, and I managed a couple more kills before one of them hit in his the stomach with his gun. I put my free hand over my stomach and coughed, but I had little time to do so, since several more to charging up their weapons. I quickly regained my posture and took them down with three powerful swipes, then bent over backwards, dodging some guy's bullet (just barely) and hit three more guys at once. I blocked a couple more swings, then started running, letting them chase me. When I reached a dead end, I didn't stop. I ran up the wall several steps, and valted over several of them, landing gracefully behind them. I smirked for a quick second before taking them all out. A bunch down, a billion to go… oh boy…

I stabbed a couple more, and then decapitated another. I quickly killed a few more of them, then kicked one away. For some reason, it seemed like the more I took down, the more they just kept on coming! This is insane! Slowly, they surrounded me again. I simply rolled my eyes, and mumbled, "Where's a miracle when you need one?" With that, I slowly readied my blade again. All right, Jakie… you've made it this far… don't stop now! And I didn't. This time, I was the first one to move. I dashed towards the one guard that had his weapon ready, timed it just right, and ducked just before he shot at me. During the half second her was vulnerable, I sliced his leg clean off, and then jumped back up and slashed the two KG's that had run up behind me. Don't ask me how I was doing all this. But I was really on a roll here!

When they finally started getting wise on me, they started coming at me in groups of ten or so. But nothing I couldn't handle. I'd taken out about… thirty before I sustained my first injury: a gash on my arm. Oh joy. Well, looks like its time to get messy. I struck my sword into the center of one Guard's helmet, then shoved him off with my foot, and sliced a couple more across their chests. My first clashed with another one's helmet. I winced in pain as the shattered glass cut into my skin, but I was quick to ignore it and keep fighting. It seemed to go on forever… Then it happened.

All I knew was that I was standing there completely drenched in blood, and every last Krimzon Guard lye on the ground either dead or severely wounded. What had just happened? I didn't really remember much, excpt dawn looking at me oddly.

"What the HELL was THAT!" she shouted at me. I just looked at her, and shrugged. I looked around me, letting reality slowly sink it's way in. I couldhardly believe what I'd just done. I'd completely massacred the Krimzon Guard. I'll bet anything I'd just dealt a good body blow to Praxis, but that didn't matter to me now. I swallowed hard. "Alright, tall, dark and gruesome, let's get the hell out of here." I slowly nodded and started to walk away when a zoomer pulled up nearby. It was Uncle Torn, dad and Daxter. I just leaned up against the nearest wall and rested a little.

"Jakie! Are you alright?" Uncle Torn called. The two both ran to my aid, seeing me so tired and fatigued. I nodded to answer his question. Dad and Daxter looked around at all the bodies.

"Did YOU do this?" dad asked. Again, I nodded. Uncle Torn glared at me.

"You took down at least half of the Krimzon Guard?" he repeated. It was more like a statement that a question.

"Yes. I did," I managed to say.

"Jeeze!" Daxter exclaimed, "Remind me not to piss you off either!" I semi-smiled.

"Uncle Torn…" I started, "the sword you gave me is incredible. I really like it." Even though I didn't look up, I knew he was at least half smiling at me.

"The bad thing is that you probably just put the city on high alert, Jakie," Uncle Torn said sternly. "You and Jak are probably the two most wanted in the city now." I scoffed.

"Well, like father like daughter," I joked. I was still in pain from the injuries I'd sustained during my glorious battle. And I was tired. Very tired. Time to go to the lake again…


	12. Chapter 12: Secret Message

Chapter 12 

I felt a small vibration against my hip. I ignored it at first. I was just so comfortable where I was lying I didn't want to move. After a moment, I thought it wouldn't happen again, but it did. Argh… stupid buzzing thing… leave me alone… it vibrated a third time. Holy CRAP! What would it take for that damn thing to leave me alone!

That was when I groggily opened my eyes. Everything was blurry for a moment, and then came into focus. I yawned, and that stupid thing vibrated again. Then reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh no! I'd gone to the lake to clean up a little after the hole Jakie Mar vs. the Krimzon Guard and fallen asleep again! Oh crap… Uncle Torn was going to kill me! I quickly snatched the annoying vibrating thing, which just happened to be my communicator. I switched it on, and Uncle Torn's voice came up.

"Jakie, where the hell are you this time?" he demanded.

"Does it really matter?" I asked. I just didn't want to tell him where my secret place was.

"Jakie, we've got a problem over here, concerning you. So hurry up and get over here NOW!" Ok, jeeze. You don't have to shout…

"Alright. I'm on my way." And I turned it off. Wow, I wonder what Uncle Torn was so frantic about… must be really serious for him to be so uppity about it. Well, better get going.

I gather up my stuff and headed back to the hideout. Of course, Uncle Torn jumped down my throat about being so lazy, but I just ignored him. Dad and Daxter were there, along with Ashelin and Dawn.

"So… what's so incredibly important to wake me up in the middle of a good dream?" I asked, sort of joking.

"This," Ashelin answered, and put a folded up note in my hand. What the…?

"Jak found it in his pocket a little while ago," Dawn informed me. I looked at dad, and he just shrugged.

"I have no idea how it got there, or why I had it," he explained. I half smiled, then unfolded it and read it.

Jakie,

I have a few things you might be interested to hear. Come to the South Port on the far side tonight. Alone.

I looked back up at everyone else. Every one of them was giving me that look that said 'this-is-all-your-fault-and-you-bloody-well-know-it'. I slightly gulped and didn't say anything.

"Do, what's your next move?" Ashelin asked me. I thought about it for a minute. Maybe who ever this guy was could help me out a little… well; it's worth a shot.

"I'll go," I answered. There was an unsettling silence in the room.

"Are you sure?" dad asked suddenly. I nodded.

"Yeah, could be some guy waiting to kill you," Daxter added. I sighed.

"I just hacked my way through about a hundred Krimzon Guards. I'm sure I can handle whatever this guy tried to throw at me," I countered.

"Yeah, like when the Baron got his hands on you?" Uncle Torn interjected.

"That was because I was in a confined space and way outnumbered, with very little room to do anything," I argued. I shook my head. "Look, I don't know what to expect either, but how bad could it be? If it is an ambush, then all I have to do is call you guys, right?" I wanted to add that I thought I specialized more in massacres, rather then just killing one person. But I kept my mouth shut about that.

"Well…" dad started, "As long as you're careful." I smiled.

"We'll have our communicators on incase you have any trouble," Ashelin added. Alright! Now THIS is more like it!

"Well, tonight is still a ways away. So I might as well spend it preparing for whatever could happen," I said, trying to sound as determined as I could. But deep down, I was as nervous as I could get. I had no idea what was going to happen tonight. And I was afraid that something bad might happen…

The rest of the day was spent tuning up my gun mods, discussing escape plans with Uncle Torn, sparing with my dad, and other things like that. I wasn't sure what to expect tonight, so I had to be ready for anything. By the time the day ended, I was pretty sure that whatever happened, I had a good counter attack for. I was pretty confident, considering what I'd just pulled off no more than a few hours ago. The Town Square Massacre, as the slums had dubbed it. That was definitely something to be proud of in my humble opinion.

When the time came, I bid my family goodbye, hijacked a zoomer and sped off through the city for the Port. When I got there a bit later, I parked it (I didn't feel like blowing it up tonight) and looked around. The area was practically deserted; a couple of KG's were on patrol… Wow, it sure was quiet. Then I saw someone off on the distance. Must've been him. I walked towards who ever it was, slowly at first, but I sped up my pace. When I was within earshot he spoke.

"So you made it in one piece after all," he said, and then turned around. My jaw nearly dropped.

Erol!


	13. Chapter 13: Midnight Meeting

Chapter 13 

I could not believe it. Erol had written me that message? But why? Wasn't he the commander of the Krimzon Guard? Uh oh… maybe this was about the whole Town Square Massacre thing… I took a step back, and held my breath.

"You were the one that told me to come here?" I asked. More like demanded. Erol nodded. Great… he was probably going to try and wring my neck or something…Oh boy…

"I know you're wondering why I did want you here," he started. I quickly nodded, getting ready to whip out my blaster and start shooting like mad. "I've been watching you for a good long time, Jakie." He has? Stalker… "Since when you were captured and used for the Baron's 'experiments' to when you massacred almost half of the Krimzon Guard." I gulped again. Here it comes…

"And what's your point?" I demanded in a lower voice. He slowly approached me. Again, I held my breath…

"I've been battling myself for a long time now over what to do with you, and I've finally come to a final decision," he explained. He stopped less than I foot away from me. Well, he was either going to try and hit me, or go for the kill. But I was ready for him…

"What decision?" I asked, lowering my voice even more. Well, I got my answer all right. Except it wasn't in words at all… He just wrapped one arm around my waist, pulled me against him and put his lips against mine.

I was so shocked I couldn't move. I'd been prepared for anything that could happen, but not THIS! I hadn't even considered something like this happening! After everything I'd done to put a good hurt on the government of Haven city, Erol, the KG commander, was in love with me. Talk about interesting twist of fate! I'd always despised Erol, Praxis and everyone else, because of the stories dad would tell me of his adventures. But now… well, I wasn't sure what to think.

Surprisingly, his kiss wasn't forceful (I would've expected it to be). I wasn't sure how to describe it. I'd never really been kissed before. To be completely honest… even though it was with Erol, I liked it. Maybe this was why he'd stopped coming to my eco treatments while I was a prisoner of his 'majesty' the Baron. It was a possibility.

When the kiss was over, there was a long, uncomfortable silence between us. I was still in shock. Erol loved me. The words sounded a little funny strung together. He just stared into my eyes as if reading my thoughts, and I stared back. What was he thinking? I couldn't tell… his eyes were clouded with so many different emotions it was impossible to tell. And I was still trying to convince myself of what had just happened.

"What just happened?" I squeaked when I found my voice. He didn't answer me. He just released his grip and backed away a couple of steps.

"I found out about your machine," he started, changing the subject. Figures… "You used Precursor technology to power it." I nodded. "I believe you'll find what you're looking for in the forest." He started to walk away, but then stopped. "And good luck to you." I just stared as he jumped into his Hellcat and zoomed off. Well… that was… crazy… time to go back to the hideout.

I was still in a complete daze when I reached the hideout. I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss with Erol. Why DID he kiss me, and then leave so suddenly? I was so deep in thought that I almost didn't hear Uncle Torn talking to me.

"Jakie, what happened? Everything all right?" he asked. I just nodded. I didn't really feel like talking about it.

"What happened?" Dawn repeated, "Who was there?" I bit my lip.

"No one in particular…" I answered. My voice was quieter than usual, and that was a dead give away to them that something very out of the ordinary had happened. But I didn't care about what they thought at the moment. Before anyone could even open their mouths to ask me what had happened, I spoke up and dismissed myself. "I'm going to go lay down…" I said in the same voice and left the room. I knew that everyone was giving me a weird look as I drug myself out of the room. I didn't care. I was tired, confused, and still in a way shocked.

So why did Erol kiss me and then take off so quickly? Good question. My number one suspicion was that he was in love with me. He IS pretty handsome… wait, WHAT! Did I just think that? Am I… falling for him? No! Absolutely not! Jakie, you're the daughter of Jak Mar, the 'Dark Eco Freak' that Erol despises so much! How can you like someone who hates your family? That's stupid! But as much as I tried to convince myself that I didn't like erol, a small voice in the back of my mind kept telling me that I _was_ falling for him… But that's impossible! It was just a kiss! I couldn't be starting to like him! …Could I?


	14. Chapter 14: Quiet Conversation

A/N: yay! 7 reveiws! (is happy) ok, there's a couple things I wanted to say befor the next cappie, so here they are!

M-python-girl: Oh, don't worry. she won't fall for Erol THAT easily. I've got something up my sleeve for later, though, so don't worry!

Every Heart Bleeds: I know I answered a chapter too late... but that because I upload several chapters a day, and by the time I caught your question... well, you get the picture. Sorry about that...

Ok, now for chapter 14!

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Chapter 14

After a long night of fitful sleep, the sun was coming up. The only one awake was Uncle Torn, as always. Doesn't he EVER sleep more than four hours? I was still thinking about that kiss. And that's what prevented me from sleeping. I finally just gave up and decided to go to the lake for a while. If I can get past Uncle Torn, that is. I quietly pulled my boots on, grabbed my sword and my gun, and left the room.

To my surprise, Uncle Torn was asleep at his desk. Oh brother…Well, at least I could make a clean get away now. I snuck outside and walked a little while before I finally grabbed a parked zoomer and sped off towards the forest. My driving skills hadn't improved much since last night. I guess it was because I was still distracted with the events of last night. After he'd kissed me, he said something about the forest. What I was looking for would be there. But… what was I looking for? Besides a way to get back to Spargus- hold it. He knows, doesn't he? But I've never told anyone about getting home, except maybe Dawn and dad… this makes no sense.

Finally I reached my secret spot again. I put my sword and gun down, along with everything else (not including my clothes, of course) and dove in. The cool water was refreshing. I stayed under the water for a minute, and then surfaced, exhaling, and inhaling deeply. I just floated on my back like I normally did for a few hours, watching the sun come up slowly in the smoggy sky. The entire time I just thought about last night…. And then my communicator went off.

I reluctantly swam back to shore to respond to the call, who ever it was. I sighed and pushed the talk button.

"Yes?" I said.

"Jakie, it's me! Dawn," the voice on the other side, answered. I swiched my communicator into hover mode so it was just float above me and kicked back out towards the center of the lake.

"What's up, Dawn?" I asked.

"Jakie…" there was a brief silence, "You're not acting right. I want to know what's up with you." I yawned.

"I don't think you want to know, Dawn…"

"Yes, I do, Jakie. We're pals, remember?" I sighed. "Come on, Jakie, what happened last night?"

"Are you alone?" I asked.

"Yeah. Everyone else is still asleep. I'm on Jak's communicator right now," she answered. I sighed again. She really wanted to know. And she WAS my best friend in the universe, after all… so I told her. I told her everything there was to tell, except for the kiss. I made sure to leave that part out. She didn't seem all too stunned about it, and that was a good thing, I guess.

"But… why would Erol be helping you? I though the hated you," Dawn said. I shrugged.

"I don't know. But it's really our only lead right now." There was a brief silence.

"Jakie, you're hiding something, aren't you?" she demanded. Uh oh… she was on to me. Curse her knowing me so damn well…

"No…" I lied.

"Jakie…" she replied threateningly.

"Alright, alright…" I admitted.

"So… out with it!" I sighed again. Well… here goes nothing.

"Erol kissed me last night," I said as clearly as I could. There was nothing but silence for a long time before Dawn finally decided to speak up again.

"Are you serious, Jak?" I nodded.

"Dead serious. The guy is either in love with me, or he's trying to seduce me into trusting him. I hope that's not what he's doing. After all, he is handsome, at least in my opinion. And to be completely honest about the kiss… I liked it." More silence.

"So what are you going to do now?" Dawn asked quietly. Good question… that's kind of why I'm here in the first place. I needed a quiet place to think this whole thing out…

"I'm not sure. But I think I'm going to look for whatever he was talking about," was my brief reply.

"Alrighty then. I guess I'll see you when I see you, Jakie." I smiled.

"Ok. See you later, Dawn. And one more thing… don't tell anyone about any of this. I really don't want to explain myself to the family. And… I don't want Uncle Torn to jump down my throat about it."

"You can count on me, Jakie." Then we both turned off our communicators. There was something I hadn't told her. I hadn't told her how I was planning to see if Erol was serious about me, or if her was just trying to probe my mind. I was going to sneak into the palace and find out for myself. It was a suicide mission, but you know what they say: Curiosity killed the cat. The whole thing was going to drive me crazy until I found out what Erol was up to… And weather anyone else liked it or not, I intended to find out tonight.


	15. Chapter 15: Unexpected Help

Chapter 15 

The sun set almost as fast as it came up. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing, but I hadn't gone back to the hideout all day, and I didn't take any calls on my communicator. I know that Uncle Torn was going to murder me when I got back for being so ignorant, but hey, it would be worth it if I found out what I wanted to know.

I maneuvered my zoomer around carefully so I wouldn't hit anyone (I was going in the higher hover zone this time) and accelerated a little more. I was closing in on the palace. I'd be there in about… ten minutes. And then, my bloody communicator went off for the umpteenth time that day. Well, Uncle Torn won't leave me alone until I answer him, so… what the hell? I reluctantly grabbed my communicator.

"Yes?" I said slowly and as unenthusiastically as I could.

"Jakie!" Uncle Torn… oh joy… "What the hell have you been doing the whole day! You didn't answer my calls at all today! What the hell are you doing!" Well, he's certainly pissed off at me, isn't he? I took a deep breath.

"What I'm doing doesn't concern you," I answered in sort of a monotone. Then my dads voice came over the intercom.

"Jakie, are you all right?" he asked, almost franticly.

"Yes, dad. I'm fine," I answered calmly.

"Come back to the hideout, Jakie!" I inwardly smirked. Sorry, dad. As much as I'd like to, my curiosity is killing me.

"No," was my only answer. Then I heard Dawn speaking.

"Jakie, have you gone absolutely crazy over this?" she demanded. I chuckled lightly.

"No, Dawn. I haven't." Dad snatched the communicator from her hands.

"Please, just come back to the hideout!" he sounded like he was ready to get on his knees and beg. I just smiled.

"I'm sorry, guys. But there's something I have to do. Alone. I'll see you later."

"Jakie, wait!" dad cried, but I cut him off.

"Goodbye." And I turned it off. I felt guilty doing that to him, but I was almost at the palace. I couldn't let my family distract me from my mission, right? Right!

I parked my zoomer a few blocks away from the palace and walked the rest of the way. This way I'd have a quieter approach. When I reached the palace back door, the one my father and I had both escaped through, I snuck in and started retracing my steps to the torture chamber I remembered so well. Of course, I had to kill more than enough KG's to get to that point. I swear, the only think more annoying than the KG's was the marauders that inhabited the desert. There's no telling how many times I was nearly killed because of those fucking things. Well… here I go.

I carefully maneuvered through the palace, careful of the guards on patrol. Eventually I got to one of the more 'public' areas of the palace. That was WAY to risky, so I looked for another way around. Well… might as well do it the old fashioned way. I carefully unscrewed the loosely installed screws that held the vent on the ceiling in place, and hoisted myself up. Holy CRAP, it's tight in here! I could barley maneuver enough to get the vent back in place so no one would suspect a thing and started crawling very quietly.

The vent seemed to go on forever. But at least I heard several juicy conversations along the way. One poor sap was having troubles with his in-laws, and another guy was complaining about his gun always jamming up on him, but the one I found the most interesting was about me… three guards that were patrolling a hallway were sharing rumors that they'd heard after the Town Square Massacre.

"Boy, I'm glad I wasn't on duty that day," the first one said.

"No kidding. I heard the girl completely slaughtered almost all of the guards that were on patrol!" the second agreed. "And with nothing but a sword! Can you imagine!"

"What was her name?" the third asked.

"Jakie, I think it was," the second answered. You're damn right, buddy! I inwardly smirked as they continued.

"I think there was only about three guys that survived the whole thing," the first stated. "They said she was like an unstoppable killing machine. Just like that guy that got away a while back."

"I heard they said she could also change into some kind of monster! You think the two have a connection?" the third asked. The other two shrugged.

"I don't know, but I'd love to be the guy to catch her! Imagine the reward!" there was a brief silence as the three men daydreamed about the impossibility of ever catching me. Poor diluted saps. Felt a bit sorry for them. Oh course… that was the moment when the ceiling decided to cave in.

I yelped and hit the floor hard. Oh great! Now I'd have to start kicking some ass! The first thing I heard was "Halt! You're under arrest!" Nuts. I thought I was screwed, until I showed them my face. The three immediately cowered back in fear that I was going to kill them. I would've, if they hadn't suddenly been so nice to me.

"Please… don't kill us!" one pleaded. I cocked an eyebrow.

"I just found a girl friend! Have mercy!" another begged. Wow. I guess I'm more badass than I thought.

"What are you talking about? I'm not going to kill you three," I said, still keeping my eyebrow raised. They relaxed a little.

"You…you're not?" I shook my head and they instantly started thinking me. I blushed a little. Hell, I could probably use this to my advantage! Maybe I could get to Erol faster! Well, here goes nothing.

"As long as I'm here… would you guys mind helping me out?" I asked sweetly. Those idiots would rather help me infiltrate the palace than lose their heads. I realized that when they agreed without hesitation. "I need to get to Erol. Could you help me get there?" Again, they agreed. Good for them. I thought for a moment, then came up with a good plan to get by the rest of the KG's…


	16. Chapter 16: Unexplainable Romance

A/N: Finally, the chapter where she confronts Erol about the whole... kissing bit a couple chapters back. Unfortunately, she won't get the chance to tell him what she thinks until chapter 18. Some of you might be surprised by it, some of you may not, but keep reading!

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Chapter 16

I inwardly smirked as the four of us marched down the halls. I was trying my hardest to look like a typical prisoner (hurt, and very pissed off), and not fall on the ground laughing. The three guards had cuffed my hands together like they HAD arrested me, and were escorting me to Erol. Every guard they'd passed that had questioned us, they'd simply lied and said that they'd caught me and were going to find Erol for his consent. I liked these guys…

They took my cuffs off on the last stretch of hallway. There were no guards there, so there was nothing to worry about, really. Finally, they knocked on Erol's door. My heart was beating madly in my chest. Finally I'd get some answers… He opened the door a moment later, took one look at the four of us and smirked.

"Cleaver, Jakie," he commented in a dully, unsurprised tone. I stepped forward.

"Why thank you," I answered in the same tone. I turned around to look at my allies. I smiled sweetly again. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem," one answered.

"Ever need us again, we'll be the ones yelling 'don't shoot'," another one joked. I chuckled lightly, and they walked off.

Erol let me in his room and closed the door, making sure to lock it. I was still grinning from my victory.

"I'm surprised you got here like you did," he said. I scoffed.

"Well, those guys were pushovers," I replied. He faced me, keeping his serious expression.

"I know why you came all the way here… you want answers for what happened last night," he stated. I nodded quickly.

"Am I that obvious?" I joked. He cleared his throat.

"After Baron Praxis received the news of the Massacre in the city, he finally realized that you were just as unstoppable as his 'experiment gone wrong'. And he finally just ordered me to get rid of you. Obviously, something else happened before I could kill you," he explained.

"And just what would that be?" I asked, with a hint oh 'just-tell-me-what-I-want-to-know-or-fuck-off'.

"I started to like you, Jakie. Maybe even love you. I don't know why, but oddly enough, I did," he finished. I just stared at him asif he had three heads. So, my gut feeling was right, after all. The nut ball liked me. The only thing was… I'm not sure if I was too fond of him in return. Sure I thought he was handsome, but still… the guy is a Krimzon guard, he did help Praxis turn my father into an 'eco freak' and he hated my family with a passion. Of course, my thoughts were cut short when he wrapped his arm around my waist, and kissed me. Again.

This time it was even more loving, and passionate. I wasn't sure exactly what had changed, unless you count the fact that his tongue slipped into my mouth somewhere along the line. Yeah. A bit gross, but hell, it felt good, even if it was the KG commander. I just stood there like a fool and allowed him to finish with me before I started my questioning. It lasted a long time, and with each passing second, he seemed to deepen the kiss even more. I didn't really care, as I was too busy trying to get my thoughts in order. As long as he didn't try to screw me or something, he could kiss me for a year's time for all I care. Finally, he let me go. I stared at him for several long seconds before speaking.

"Erol… why me of all people?" I asked sternly. He just shrugged.

"I don't know," was his brief reply. So informative… I scoffed lightly.

"Yeah right, Erol. I massacred nearly half of your troops, done more than a few hard body blows to the government of Haven City, and to get a bit more personal…" I stopped to look at him before I continued, but he held up his had to stop me. I obeyed and quickly shut up.

"Jakie…" he started, "it's getting late." I shrugged.

"So?" I asked.

"You picked a bad night to come see me, because I have duty tonight," he explained. Well, how do ya like that! I cam ALL this way so I could talk to him and he has duty! Someone in Heaven has a twisted sense of humor! "Tomorrow night, come down to the Port, and we'll talk there. Ok?" Well, good enough. I half smiled.

"Ok," I agreed, "but how do I get out of here without being arrested?"

"Lucky for you, Baron Praxis isn't here at the moment, since he's out looking for the Precursor stone again. So, I'll escort you out," he answered. I smiled again and the two of us walked out of the room.

Something told me that this was going to be a long night…


	17. Chapter 17: Just My Luck

A/N: first... it's 10:00 at night, so forgive me for any spelling mistakes. it's a school night, I'm afraid and I had to rush to get this chapter finished. Sorry again for any screwups...

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Chapter 17

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back to the underground hideout. Mainly because I wasn't sure if I wanted to put up with everyone yelling at me. But what I didn't know was that dad had been out scouting the city for me. I found that out when I rounded a corner and saw my dad talking to Daxter about searching around the palace. Well, might as well let him know I'm ok.

"Dad?" I asked, sounding confused and surprised. He quickly turned around, and before I knew it he had me in a bear hug. Well, at least someone liked me enough to care if I got hurt.

"Jakie, where the hell were you?" he asked when he let go.

"Yeah, you were acting pretty weird when Tattooed Wonder called you!" Daxter added. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"You sure you want to know?" I grumbled.

"Jakie, get on the zoomer while I call Torn and tell him you're alright," dad ordered. I didn't feel like arguing, so I did what he said. And before I knew it, we were heading back to the hideout. Oh joy…

My welcome was exactly what I'd expected it to be. Dawn nearly clobbering me, Uncle Torn yelling at me, and Ashelin asking me if I was all right. Home sweet home, I suppose. I just pretended to listen to Uncle Torn, told Aunt Ashelin that I was fine and she didn't need to worry about it, and scratched Dawn behind her ears every so often so she'd keep thinking I was paying attention to her. But I was really keeping a close watch on dad. This was the first time I've seen him so… overprotective of me since I got here. Weird, huh? But I knew I'd have to explain about the whole incident with Erol sooner of later, even if I weaseled my way out of it tonight…

Surprisingly, I managed to get through the rest of the night without having to come clean about Erol and then Aunt Ashelin insisted I get some sleep. Only problem was the fact that I couldn't sleep. No matter how much I tossed and turned, I just couldn't, and finally I just gave up and sat on the cot, cross-legged. Well, at least now I could think about things a little more. Or maybe not…

"Jakie, are you awake?" I heard dad's voice asked quietly. Rats…

"Yes," I answered, keeping my voice quiet. There was a brief silence while he sat on the cot in front of me. This reminded me of when Uncle Torn and I were talking in the dark. Dad seemed to have a concerned look on his face at the moment. Well, better prepare for a good, long talk…

"Since you're awake, I want to talk to you." KNEW it! I just knew it! But I just nodded and smiled. "Jakie… you've been acting strange lately… mind telling me what's going on?" If only you knew, dad… if only you knew.

"Well, dad… I'm not sure how to say it…" I replied.

"Come on, Jakie. If I'm your father, then you can definitely tell me," he insisted. Well… ok then, pop. You asked for it.

"Well… the whole thing started when you guys gave me that note…" I began. And I told him. Everything. I explained about Erol, about how and why I snuck into the palace… everything. I made sure not to miss a single detail. And he just sat there, listening to me talk. I love you, dad.

When I finished explaining myself, he just looked at me. Several emotions stood out in his icy blue eyes. Mostly rage, sympathy, guilt, and angst burned in his eyes as he ran back over what I'd told him. We sat there for a while in complete silence. I had nothing to say, but dad… I knew he wanted to say something, but he just didn't know what. I half expected him to backhand me, but he didn't make a move…

"Jakie…" he finally said, "why didn't you say anything?" I took a deep breath and thought it over.

"I…" I admit… I really didn't know what to say. I felt tears start to well up in my eyes, and I just hung my head. "I don't know…" My next move was a bit dumb, but at the moment, I was desperate. I quickly hugged my dad around he neck and just started crying into his shoulder. He was taken aback at first, but then slowly returned my embrace and tried his best to comfort me. I guess the saying was true: Strong men also cry (strong women in my case).

The next thing I new, dad had put me back on my cot and pulled the blanket over me again. He gently kissed my forehead and told me to try and sleep. But I just couldn't… the most I slept that night was say… two hours. Finally I just gave up and decided to go for a walk. Not do anything to get in trouble, just… wander around for a while. I left a note for them telling them what I was up to and left the hideout. But… as fate would have it, I didn't quite make it through the night… Yes, that means I got hurt, and badly at that. What happened? Nothing unusual… I was walking along the road, just moping my way through the streets and what happens? A stupid drunkard, who decided he was ok to drive in the low hover zone, speeds down the street that I just happen to be on. I tried to dodge, but as fate would have it, he hit me anyway. Bastard. All I remember after that was crashing into the ground, my vision going fuzzy and then black…

Like I said, just my luck.


	18. Chapter 18: Don't Hear That Everyday

Chapter 18 

I don't know how long I was out… a day… two days… I wasn't really sure. But I'd made up my mind about Erol. I didn't want him as an aspect of my life. Sure, he was handsome and all, but all the things I liked about him couldn't possibly compare to all the reasons I hated his guts. He hated my family with a passion, he was a suck up to his 'majesty' Baron Praxis, he was a KG, and a few more reasons I'd rather not bring up. But that was my final decision.

The day I finally woke up after the accident, I couldn't get my eyes open. Then again, a lot of my senses weren't working properly. But I felt something soft and warm underneath me, and some kind of think comfy blanket covering me. I was very comfortable where I was, and I didn't want to wake up. I wish I could've stayed like that forever… my first thought was that I was in a hospital, but I remembered that hospitals couldn't afford THIS kind of comfort. Maybe I was back at the Underground? Or maybe… oh no… please don't tell me…

After several moments of lying there in suspense, I finally groaned and tried to get my eyes open. They wouldn't open at first but then…

"You're awake," a familiar voice said from someplace in the room. My eyes shot open when I heard that voice. But once things were in focus, reality quickly suck in… I was in Erol's room again…

My entire body ached, especially my right hip, where the zoomer had hit me, and I had the worst headache in history.

"You've been out for almost two days, Jakie," Erol continued. Two days! Holy _canoli_!

"Erol…" I managed to say. My voice was really hoarse and scratchy like the time I was about… 9 and I had a really soar throat for days. The man who claimed to love me sat on the side of the bed and touched my forehead.

"Your fever's gone down," he reported. Well, at least that's some good news. Well, it's now or never…

"Erol, you and I…" he stopped me.

"Can't be. I know, Jakie," he finished. What the…? Could this guy read my mind or something! I mean, how the hell did he know I was going to say that! I gave him a look that said 'explain-yourself-right-now'. "I'm getting married." I nearly choked. He's getting married? MARRIED? EROL is getting MARRIED! Well, there's something you definitely don't hear everyday. Well, at least I didn't have to worry about him anymore, and that's a good thing.

"You are?" I asked, trying to hide my excitement. He just nodded.

"Yes. But right now your condition from that accident is still critical. And you have to be well enough to walk by tomorrow afternoon," he stated.

"What happens then?" I asked.

"The Guards you befriended will be escorting you back to your family," he answered. Really! THANK YOU, EROL! "You best rest up." Will do! And he left the room.

Finally, this whole mess had cleared up! Finally I could just look for a way to go home without having to worry about Praxis, or Erol, or anyone else! And for that, I thanked the Precursors.

* * *

A/N: Short but sweet! Bet no one was expecting that one. Erol getting married is practically unheard of, right? Right! lol. the next chapter will be more of her getting better, and then chapter 20 will pick up on more Jakie kicks ass. k? 


	19. Chapter 19: He Really Believes Me

A/N: CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP! I'm SO very sorry for such a long wait! I HATE writers block! I'll update the nxt few chapters as quickly as I can. But everyday it seems like I have less and less time to finish everything. Seriously... I'm starting to get paranoid from all this 'I-only-have-a-few-hours-to-finish-everything' nonsense! anyways, I TRIED to make this Chapter more than a page long on Microsoft Word, but my writers block wouldn't let me! I'm sorry!

* * *

Chapter 19

For the next day and a half I was miserable. My body ached so much I thought it would kill me. I was affected by several terrible headaches that were so painful I thought they were migraines. Every time I shifted my position even the slightest bit, my hip hurt like hell. Erol still treated me the same way he always had, even though he now belonged to another woman. That STILL sounds weird! No matter how many times I rolled it around in my head, it always sounded just plain weird! But other then that, I was given green eco to help me heal a little faster and believe me it helped.

The afternoon I was supposed to be taken back to my family, I accidentally fell asleep in the back of the Hellcat. I didn't exactly mean to, but I did anyway! This falling asleep nonsense is really starting to strike a nerve with me… I mean, really! If I keep falling asleep like this, it's going to bite me in the ass in the end, and that's something I really don't need! Especially since I've got my work cut out for me, with all the missions from Uncle Torn, my own personal goal to protect my family, you know what I mean. So this falling asleep thing has really got to stop!

Well, the next thing I knew, I was back at the underground hideout, with my dad gently shaking me awake. Normally, I would've turned on my side and pulled the covers over my head, but I was in too much pain to even try to make him mad. I just groaned and opened my eyes.

"Jakie, are you alright?" he asked gently, "you were mumbling things while you were sleeping and they didn't sound very… pleasant." I was? Well, that's a first…

"I was?" I asked. My voice was still raspy and hoarse, but it was better than it used to be. Dad nodded once and sat next to me. Well, now was a good time to ask the question of questions… "Dad?"

"Yes?" I took a second to prepare myself.

"Do you really believe me? That I am who I say I am?" That was harder to say than it sounded. There was an uncomfortable silence, which I had been expecting. As long as I got some form of an answer out of him… I sat there and patiently waited for his reply, even though I was very anxious. And finally…

"Well, you look like me, act like me, and fight like me, not to mention you've got Dawn… and the picture you carry around everywhere. So I guess I don't have much of a choice but to believe you," he explained. My heart leapt, and a small grin crept onto my bruised face. My father smiled at me, then he stood up and left the room, allowing me to sleep some more.

After dad left, I started thinking about everything. I started wondering why the hell I was staying here, in the wrong time, and not looking for a way to get to the right time. Well, I guess I'd have to start looking for a way back home to Spargus. But where to start… I guess I could question Uncle Torn about it. Maybe he knows something useful. It's worth a shot, I suppose. Fine then. I'll ask him when I finally recover from getting smacked by that stupid zoomer. Aye, this is going to be a long recovery…


	20. Chapter 20: Back to the Power Station

Chapter 20 

I healed fairly quickly to my surprise. I guess that green eco helped out a lot after all. Within a week and a half I was back on my feet. Uncle Torn was reluctant to put me back to work (awe, he cares!) so Dad, Daxter and Aunt Ashelin were doing a lot of work lately. Dawn and I stuck around the hideout most of the time. Unfortunately, someone was always around. Either it was Samos, Aunt Ashelin, or someone else; I barely got a moment alone with Uncle Torn to ask him if he knew anything. Until finally, one day, everyone except Uncle Torn, Dawn and I was gone. I immediately took this to my advantage and started to strike up a conversation with him.

"Hi, Uncle Torn," I greeted, trying to sound cheery, but not doing a very good job at it. I sat down in an extra chair at the side of his desk.

"Hi, Jakie," he replied simply. Well, here goes nothing…

"You know… I really have to start looking for a way back home," I said, "by chance, would you happen to know anything that could help me out?" he looked up at me.

"You know, I think I just may," he answered, then gave me his typical tough guy smirk, "Remember the guy I sent you and Jak out to save at the strip Mine?" I nodded quickly.

"Vin?" Uncle Torn nodded slightly.

"The guy's a genius when it comes to things like this. If you go see him at the Power Station, maybe he can help you out," he explained. I smiled broadly.

"Awesome! I'll go right now!" I said, jumping up.

"Hold it, Jakie," Uncle Torn interrupted. Aw man! Now what! "Are you sure you can just run over there? You're still not fully healed yet." Oops. I forgot about that.

"Did you really have to remind me of that?" I whined, sitting down again.

"He's got a point, Jak-o," Dawn interjected. What the crap? Did she just appear out of nowhere? I hate it when she does that…

"And since when have you started calling me 'Jak-o'?" I asked with false amusement.

"Since right now," she replied, jumping on the desk in front of me. I scoffed.

"Lovely," I mumbled in sarcasm.

"At least wait until Jak gets back here. He can escort you to he Power Station and have your back incase something goes wrong," Uncle Torn finished. I didn't really care very much, but I whined anyway.

"Oh fine! Have it your way," I said, trying to sound as whiny as possible while also showing as much 'I'm just kidding' as I could. "I'll just go clean my gun out to keep busy until dad gets here then."

"You do that," Uncle Torn answered, turning his attention to his maps again. I couldn't resist my next move.

"But first…" I started, and then quickly hugged him around the shoulders. "Thanks, Uncle Torn." Then I let go and walked into the back room. I would've loved to see the embarrassed blush on his face, but I didn't look. I just inwardly smirked and started to happily clean my gun.

Finally, after waiting forever, dad and Daxter showed up. I put my gun down and walked in to greet him.

"Hi dad!" I said smiling broadly. Dawn was with me too, and I guess my cheer rubbed off on her as well.

"Hi dad!" she repeated. The two men smiled at us, acknowledging our cheerful moods, then started talking to Uncle Torn, who was obviously going to give him another mission. Poor dad…

"Jak, I want you to escort Jakie to the Power Station. I would've sent her alone, but I don't want to take the chance of her not being fully healed yet," he explained. Uh oh… blackmail time! I giggled.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you, Uncle Torn!" I said, "You care if I get hurt!" I giggled a little more as Uncle Torn tried desperately not to blush again. Daxter's turn now.

"So, Tattooed Wonder has a heart after all!" he teased. Uncle Torn scowled at him, then turned back to my dad, who, I could tell, was also tried hard not to smile at our constant teasing uncle Torn.

"Anyway, I want you to take her there to see Vin. If anyone knows anything about time travel, it'd be him," he finished.

"No problem. Let's go, Jakie," Dad said, and then started walking out. I quickly followed, throwing another playful smile back at Uncle Torn.

The four of us climbed into the nearby zoomer and dad started it up then started driving towards the Power Station. Somewhere along the line, Dawn and I got into a girlish conversation.

"While you were asleep I actually made Uncle Torn blush," I said, giggling.

"You did?" Dawn exclaimed in disbelief, "I thought that was impossible!"

"I thought so too," Daxter interrupted.

"Well, I did it by hugging him," I continued, "now I think I know why Uncle Torn was always my favorite family member. Behind dad of course." Ok, I couldn't resist doing it to dad too. I lightly hugged him around the shoulders. "Dad was always my favorite!" Making people blush must've been my accomplishment for the day, or something. Probably because it was funny to see a guy that's all the time serious actually turn red.

A little while later (we hadn't hit any KG's along the way, luckily) we reached the Power Station. Dad parked the zoomer and we all jumped out and walked inside, where Vin was working (as usual. Doesn't this guy EVER sleep at all? Sheesh!) on his computers. Dad folded him arms and stared for a minute before speaking.

"Vin, buddy!" he said to get the guys attention, "we need another favor."

"Really? And what would that be?" Vin asked, not taking his eyes off the keyboard. To be honest, I was amazed at all the technical junk here! I loved computers and stuff like that, as you can see.

"Actually, she does," Daxter said, pointing at me. Vin turned around and looked at me.

"Jakie, my daughter," dad introduced me.

"Daughter?" Vin asked, "You have a daughter?"

"His future daughter, "I corrected, "time travel." I cleared my throat. "That's exactly why I'm here. To ask if you knew anything about how to get into the future." Vin did that 'Hmmm' thing and started saying a whole bunch of technical mumbo jumbo, most of which, I had no idea what it meant. We all just stared at him until he was finished.

"Any questions?" Vin asked when he was done. Dawn instantly raised her paw.

"Yeah, um… what?" she joked. I rolled my eyes.

"I think I can to that, but it will take some time to do that," he said to me. AWESOME! I was going home! Finally! Maybe this time I'll actually get it right, and save my dad from his sudden death…


	21. Chapter 21: Close Call

Chapter 21 

That thought kept running its course through my mind. Home… Spargus… I missed it a lot. Maybe now that Vin was working on a way for me to get my ass back to my own time, I could just get out of here without anymore problems. I hoped that Erol was out of my life now, so he wouldn't be bugging me much… That last kiss was pretty gross. I mean, the guy had his tongue in my mouth! Ok, I just made myself want to gag… better get off that subject.

The four of us had gone back to the hideout. Dad and Daxter were both exhausted since they'd been running around all day, so they'd decided to take a nap before anything else happened. Me, on the other hand, I was far from tired. I was still in my cheery mood and full of energy. When boredom had taken its toll on me, I'd challenged Uncle Torn to a card game. Him not being one to turn away from a challenge accepted, of course. We were both tied now, three to three from six games. Dawn was watching us play, occasionally looking over our shoulders to see who had a better hand, and trying to predict who would win. Well, I had to keep busy SOME how, right? RIGHT?

Our little tournament continued on until Aunt Ashelin had to spoil my winning streak. Crap. Well, I guess she had good reason because she looked worried over something.

"What is it, Ashe?" Uncle Torn asked. She leaned on the table, still panting slightly.

"A fleet of metal heads was spotted in the forest," she said quickly.

"So? There's metal heads everywhere anymore," Uncle Torn said. Aunt Ashelin shook her head.

"Not these metal heads, Torn. These guys are twice as dangerous as the ones we're used to!" she explained, "I've already lost three of my best men to them." Gee, I wonder whom that leaves… Dad, me, dad, me… Here it comes… Unlce torn looked at dad.

"Jak's too out of it for this type of thing…" he said. Well, that leaves one person doesn't it, dear Uncle? He looked at me. I KNEW it! "Can you handle it Jakie?" I inwardly scoffed. What do you think I'm here for, Uncle? My health? No, I'm here to kick some ass!

"That's what I'm here for," was my simple reply.

For some reason, the more I thought about metal heads in the forest, the madder I got. Probably because they were raiding my secret place, thinking that they were going to infiltrate the city or something equally as stupid. Well, not as long as I'm around, they won't! Time to kick a little metal head ass! I stopped the zoomer by the forest entrance and jumped off with Dawn on my shoulder as always. When I entered the forest, I grabbed my gun, kept it ready for anything, and quickly pointed it at anything that moved. I kept thinking this would be a piece of cake, since I was overly confident in my fighting abilities. Until I ran into the first one. I only had one comment when I saw it.

"Oh… my… God…"

When I came to my senses, I instantly started shooting like hell at it. But all that seemed to do was piss it off. Bad move, Jakie… VERY bad move. I started running from the huge thing as fast as I could, but it gained up quickly. Ok, so now what the hell was I going to do! My blaster was definitely not strong enough to handle a thing THAT gigantic! I ran and ran until I had nowhere else to run. Well, this is it, I guess. Jakie Freya Mar: Killed by an oversized metal head. Oh joy. Then, as if from nowhere, a strong blast shot as if out of nowhere, and the metal head fall on the ground in front of me…


	22. Chapter 22: Peacemaker

Chapter 22 

It took me a moment to regain my senses before I looked up to see my savior. Then again, I didn't really have to. I'd no that voice anywhere.

"You alright, kid?" he asked. Sig. I nodded slightly.

"Just dandy," I answered, sort of being sarcastic. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. My attention automatically went to the fallen metal head in front of me. Note to self: Never EVER go after wasteland metal heads without the proper weapon, no matter what Uncle Torn says.

"Wait… you're that kid from a couple months ago!" Sig said when he looked me over a bit more thoroughly. Gee, You really think so, Sig? Aye…

"Yeah. That's me. Jakie."

"Wait… Jak was talking about you a while back. He said you could really kick some ass." … Wait, dad was bragging about me? Ok, that's just plain strange.

"Well, yeah… but not a herd of these things," I exclaimed, pointing at the over sized metal head. "But anyway… what are you doing out here?"

"Hunting some metal heads to get a few more trophies for Krew. Sig," he answered.

"Krew…" Dawn started, "why am I not surprised?" I shook my head. Aunt Ashelin said that there was more than one; so maybe staying with Sig would be my best chance. I mean, I'm not going to take down a thing that size with nothing but a blaster! That's like trying to catch a fly with a piece of string. It's impossible!

"Kid, I don't think you're going to do much damage with nothing but a blaster," Sig repeated. I just said that!

"Yeah, well…" I tried to come up with some kind of excuse, but ended up saying the first thing that came out of my mouth, "Well… you know… my cat exploded… and, uh…" Sig cocked an eyebrow at me, and then smirked.

"Eh, just stick with me and cover my rear. We'll be fine," he ordered. OK!

And so, the two of us searched the forest for the remaining metal heads. The first two were simple targets, but the last one was just a pain in the ass. Seriously. Mostly because it was trying to bomb us, and there were several stupid die hard metal heads protecting it. Just before the battle started, I whipped out my sword, then dashed at one and unleashed a Flying Kick From Hell on it, knocking it easily to the ground, then stabbing it in the chest. One down… Sig shot one of them, and started charging up his Peacemaker, but it just HAD to jam up on him! Just my stupid luck! Well, it's up to me now!

I jumped back at another annoying dark bomb thingy crashed into the ground near me, then I sliced one of the metal head's heads clean off before I could attack me. Then I swung my sword the other direction and took one's leg clean off. This is getting to be a lot like the Town Square Massacre, if you ask me. But that was me very angry. Right now, this is me having fun! After cutting vertically through another, Sig FINALLY un-jammed his peacemaker and started charging it again. Time to cover his ass! I switched my sword for my blaster and started shooting anything that looked nasty that came near Sig until he was finally finished charging the Peacemaker. I stood back and watched him take out the last metal head. I sighed and sat down on a nearby rock. Hey, I WAS still hurt from that stupid zoomer accident!

"You've got a lot of talent, kid," Sig complimented. I looked up blankly until his words registered in my head.

"Thanks," I replied. I stood up again.

"I'm going to collect the trophies and clean peacemaker now. You look like you could use a break, so go back to the city," he ordered.

"Alright. A break sounds good…" I agreed.

"Yes, a break sounds VERY good," Dawn also agreed. I rolled my eyes,

"Thanks for saving me back there," I changed the subject.

"Eh, it was nothing. Just stay out of trouble, kid," was Sig's answer. I smiled weakly, said my goodbyes and started to leave. "Hey kid, one more thing!" ARGH! What now! I turned around tryng hard to hide my irritated expression. He suddenly tossed a Peacemaker mod at me. My fingers fumbled with it for a second until I got a good grip on it. "Don't say I never gave you anything!" He winked at me, and I smiled.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed. I quickly switched the mod over and then left the forest.

I was too exhausted to drive so I just walked back to the hideout again. I think I'll follow dad's lead and take a nap. And I'll bet dawn's thinking the same thing… she's practically asleep on my shoulder… I could tell that this was going to be a long walk because after ten minutes of walking, I was STILL in the bizarre area. I hate this city… I hate Baron Praxis… I hate these stupid PEOPLE! Get the hell out of my way, damn it! I wish I'd brought dad's jet-board with me… and I could do without that KG's giving me that look… argh, this will be a loooong walk…

When I finally reached the small place I called my 'temporary home', the first thing I did was fall on one of the bunks. Uncle Torn gave me a weird look as always.

"Did you take out those metal heads?" he questioned.

"Uh huh…" I answered nodding. I sat up again to unstrap my gun and sword, and then I collapsed again. I could barely hear what Uncle Torn was saying because I was already in a state of twilight. Yeah, I was that tired. And I think I was asleep before he even finished talking… Poor Uncle Torn…

* * *

Kiri: ok, I know it's skimpy during the battle part, but I'm also pretty tired. But don't worry. Because your guys' reveiws are SO awesome. I'm gonig to make the final battles as graphic and as detailed as I can(without getting TOO descriptive, of course.) It'll take a little longer to write each chapter, though. but I promise they'll be worth the wait! And to give you guys something else to eat your hat over, Jakie's going to meet her mother REAL soon! (DUN DUN DUN!) And after that, she gets one last mission from Uncle Torn, (maybe a final run-in with Erol, but I haven't decided yet) and then she goes home. But it doesn't stop there! So you guys still have plenty of chapters to read before the ending!


	23. Chapter 23: Dark Jak

Chapter 23 

"Jakie…"

Mmm… go away…

"Jakie, wake up."

No, I don't want to… leave me alone…

"Come on. Get up already."

I don't want to.

"Jakie!" My eyes popped open. What the…? I turned over on my back and looked around. Dad. Oh yeah. That's right. I'm back at the Underground. But did he have to wake me up like that when I was so comfortable?

"What?" I asked groggily.

"Come on. We've got some things to do," dad said simply. Nice excuse… Sitting up, I stretched my arms and yawned. Dawn was still curled up next to me asleep. I nudged her a little to wake her up, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. That ottsel can sleep through a tornado. She just mumbled something like "I don't feel like buying the fish today" and started lightly snoring again. Oh brother…

After I gathered up my weapons, I nudged Dawn twice as hard. Luckily she woke up this time. We exchanged a few words, then she hopped on my shoulder and I went to meet dad outside by the zoomer.

"So what are we doing, exactly?" I questioned.

"Just a few quick errands," Dad answered. I just shrugged and climbed in the passenger side. Dad started it up and took off. My favorite thing about driving a zoomer: driving REALLY fast!

I have no idea how many KG's dad ran over, but it was fun either way. It would get us to our destination twice as fast with them chasing us down! Apparently our destination was the racing garages. I was about to start questioning why we were here, but dad was out of the zoomer before I could even open my mouth. I jumped out after him and followed quickly. I still wanted to ask a hundred questions about why we were here of all places, but I held my tongue and looked for answers in my surroundings.

Without knowing it I fell behind. Dad was way ahead of me because I'd become distracted by something else. All I know is that I snapped back to reality when Erol walked by looking a little annoyed… creep. He just glanced at me from the corner of his eye then continued on his way. When his back was turned to me, I sneered and Dawn made several faces at him. It took a lot of my willpower not to fall down laughing, but I think I did a pretty good job. Then I turned my attention back to dad and… who ever he was talking to. Wow, she's pretty.

"Erol's the best racer I've ever seen!" she said, sounding like she was about to swoon. Oh brother…

"He's not what you think," dad replied. Damn right he isn't! He's a jerk, is what he is! She stood up strait and put her hands on her hips.

"And you're a good judge of character? People say you get angry and… change. Besides, the Jak I knew wouldn't be working for a guy like Krew!" Hold it… they know each other? Then how come I don't? Unless… ok, this is getting REALLY weird. There was some more arguing, and then dad got all pissed off and left. Daxter tried to call him but he was ignored. I watched him walked away for a moment before running after him.

"Dad?" I called, "Where are you going?" No answer. I ran up beside him. "Dad, what's wrong?"

"I can't believe this. How can she like that guy!" he exclaimed. Good question, pop. Very good question.

"Who, Erol?" I asked, sort of playing dumb, "Well, yeah, that guy is a major jerk…" I could tell that dad was about to lose his temper. That was bad. I had to find a way to calm him down before…

Uh oh, too late. Right when we were at the top of the stairs, Dad fell to his knees and held either side of his head. Oh… crap… ok, Jakie… relax, you've dealt with dads dark eco before. This is no different… when dad started changing into Dark Jak, all the people in the area quickly cleared out in fear. Lucky for us there were no KG's in the area at the time. Otherwise things would've been twice as difficult for me. Once dad was fully transformed, he glared at me. Oh boy… well, here goes nothing…

I drew out my sword and glared back. The way I usually did this was total suicide, because it involved dodging an attack where you only have a VERY slim percent change of doing it correctly. But since I'd done it so many times before, I was pretty good at it.

"Hey, darkly," I taunted, "Here to have your ass whipped?" Like I said: total suicide. As I expected, dark Jak got even more pissed off, but he didn't make a move… yet. "Doing that should be exceptionally easy." That did it. He lunged forward at me with his claws outstretched, ready to tear my flesh from my bones, but before he reached me, I jumped out of the way and smacked him as hard as I could with the flat side of my sword. He obviously didn't like that too much… he quickly got up, still glaring at me. Boy, if looks could kill, I'd be dead five times over. He jumped at me again, aiming for my throat, but I rolled out of the way again, and 'accidentally on purpose' put a gash on his arm. Now he was REALLY pissed.

"Aw, did I do that?" I taunted him, "oops!" I was getting a little too cocky for my own good, and I knew it. That was probably because I'd dealt with him more than enough times I in the past to conquer my fear of him. Again, he jumped at me. But this time he was too quick for me to dodge and he kicked my sword from my hand. Oh great. Now what? I had only a few nanoseconds to think over a new strategy because he attacked again. Luckily, I put my hands up just in time to catch his hands in my own. He stood there, grappling for a while, our strengths switching back and forth, until he got smart and rammed him knee into my stomach. The half second I was vulnerable he swung his claws at me, leaving four bloody trails across my cheek. I gasped in pain, and staggered back a few steps, trying to regain my posture. But again, dark Jak was faster than I was, and swiped a second time with his other hand, leaving four more gashes in my leg. I lost my balance and fall back. I thought that I was pretty much done for, until I saw my sword within reach… Well, maybe my luck wasn't so bad after all!

I saw him running at me again, obviously going for the kill now. I snatched up my sword, and quickly rolled out of the way before he could catch me. I was a little more than pissed about getting hurt this bad when in the past I'd done it without getting a scratch. And I think that's what helped fuel that weird moment. My sword started glowing a dark purplish color, and then the weirdest thing I've ever seen happened. The entire blade turned pure black, while it still kept that same purple glow. I almost dropped it when that happened, but for some reason, the sword wouldn't leave my hand… like it was magnetized or something. I have no idea what was going on, but I felt… stronger.

Dark Jak ran at me again, but this time, I brought my blade down hard, slicing strait down his chest. And that was the end of it. The two of us stared at each other for a moment, and then my sword changed back to normal. I backed away a couple of steps and held on to the wall for support. Dad changed back to normal after my heart settled down a little. We stared at each other for a few awkward seconds since neither one of us knew what to say. Then, finally…

"Jakie… I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's ok, dad," I answered. Both of us stood up strait, and I put my sword away.

"Come on. We better get your injuries looked at," dad said. I nodded once. Then I remembered. Dawn! Where had she been this whole time!

"Dawn!" I called in sort of a raspy voice. "Dawn!" then I felt that familiar weight on my shoulder.

"Right here, partner," she said. A sigh of relief followed. Well, she was ok, at least. I sat down against the nearest wall and rested, and then dad sat next to me. Both of us were breathing hard, exhausted from the battle we just had.

"Dad…" I started.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

"What?"

"Never do that again." He chuckled lightheartedly. I knew he couldn't keep that promise, but hey, it was worth a try. Right?

* * *

Kiri: Ok, I've gotta admit, I had FUN writting this chapter! I don't know why, but I did! I hope you guys like it as much as I had fun doing it! Next chapter will be up by tomorrow at the latest, so keep an eye out. k? until then!


	24. Chapter 24: The Day I Leave

Chapter 24 

That fight had taken a lot out of me. I don't really know why, though. Maybe that weird thing with my sword had something to do with it. I'm not really sure. I sat perfectly still as Uncle Torn dabbed an alcohol swab on my cheek where Dark Jak had cut me open. I winced slightly but help at still as I could.

"I must admit, Jakie, you handled him pretty well back there," dad complimented. I smiled slightly.

"I've done it before. It's not really anything to be extremely proud of," I answered.

"What still bothers me is what happened at the tale end of that fight," Dawn broke in, jumping up from the ground to the table.

"I don't really know," I replied, "but from what I can tell, it looked like my sword was being powered by eco." Uncle Torn sat up for a moment.

"But how is that possible? You have the same dark eco as me. Why would it have a different effect on you?" dad questioned. I shrugged before Uncle Torn tended to my cuts again.

"It looks like you've somehow found a way to transfer your eco from your body into an object," he said.

"That's pretty weird," I commented. "I would've expected my dark eco to affect me the same way it affects dad. He has a darker side, so I should as well… nothing is making any sense here."

"Wait a second, Jakie," Dawn interrupted, "you did have a dark side. Remember the Town Square massacre?"

"How could I forget? It's what I'm known for," I replied, eyeing her curiously.

"I was there, too, and I saw you transform. So you have a dark side."

"But why isn't it the same now than before?" I inquired. Both dad and Dawn just shrugged at the question.

"Well, since it's that way now, you'll just have to master it the way it is," Uncle Torn spoke up.

"I guess you're right… All I have to do is figure out how to use it…" I agreed.

"And here's your chance to do it. Lately we've been having trouble with our communication links. We sent a few scouts to see what the problem was, and it turns out The Baron put up a few security lines and they're interfering with our signals. I want you two to go to the strip mine and take out every one you can find," Uncle Torn explained. I nodded.

"No problem," I replied, "Right, pop?" he also nodded.

"Good. Rest up and get out there," Uncle Torn finished. Well, here we go again with another one of Uncle Torn's suicide missions…

After dad and I had gotten our strength back, we hijacked another zoomer and took off for the strip mine. Dawn and Daxter were with us, too. We were still a bit tired from that battle earlier, but we were confident we could pull the job off. I just couldn't stop thinking about the fight. Dad was stronger in this time that in my time. Probably because he was younger now. And in case you haven't guess, yes, I used to take on dad's dark form when I was 10. I know, a good way to get killed, but when there was no one else around, what else could I do? I guess that's why I'm so skilled now, because I started at an early age. But aside from all that, we finally arrived at the strip mine.

I took out my Peacemaker, as did dad. Dawn hopped onto my shoulder, and Daxter onto dads.

"Why does tattoo boy ALWAYS give us the crappy missions?" Daxter complained. I rolled my eyes.

"Just shut up and enjoy it while you can," I answered, "for all we know, this could be our last mission together." Dad nodded.

"She's got a point," he agreed. Daxter and dawn complained a little more, while dad and I shot down the metal heads in our way. A little ways after the conveyor belt thingy that's in the middle of the road for no apparent reason, we spotted the first Security thingy that Uncle Torn told us to destroy.

"So… how exactly do we take this thing down?" I asked. Dad shrugged. I stepped back and examined the thing on top of the tower for a moment, searching for a weakness of some kind.

"Hey Jakie," dad interrupted, "try climbing up to the top and using your sword." I cocked an eyebrow, but then shrugged. Eh, it was worth a shot. I put my Peacemaker away and started climbing the tower. Once at the top, I drew my sword. Ok, so how do I make this thing work?

"Dad!" I called.

"What?"

"How do you summon your dark powers?" There was a moment of silence,

"I'm not really sure! But it's usually when I'm angry!" Angry, huh? Well… let's see, what gets me angry…? Praxis… I started thinking about those two months in prison when Praxis was pumping me full of dark eco. Yep, that did the trick. I clutched my sword tightly, and it took on the same form as before. Except it was… bigger? Yeah. MUCH bigger. That's never happened before… but oh well. I swung it at the KG thingy as hard as I could, and it was sliced in half, then the bottom half blew up. I grinned with satisfaction, and my sword changed back to normal. I jumped back down and rejoined my father.

"I think I know how to work it now," I reported. Dad half smiled, slung his gun over his shoulder, motioned for me to follow along and started walking towards the next security thingy.

It was the same thing the whole way. Through all six of the thingies. We'd shoot a bunch of metal heads, I'd climb the tower while dad covered my butt, I'd summon my dark sword powers, smash the thingy and jump back down. Pretty boring. But at least I'd figured out how to use my dark sword power. Pretty awesome. And in case you didn't guess, yeah, that was the last mission I went on. When we were leaving the strip mine, Vin called me on my communicator and told me that the warp gate was ready for me to use it to get back home. To tell you the truth, I was more upset than happy. I guess it was because I'd had so much fun here in haven that I didn't really want to go home. But I had to. It was where I belonged. And just thinking about that, I almost cried.

When we got back to the hideout, and gave the news to everyone else, things were pretty quiet the rest of the night. I guess it was because everyone else had warmed up to me and wasn't ready to just let me leave so suddenly. Especially Uncle Torn and dad. And Daxter, I guess. They were the ones that I'd grown on the most. The four of us stayed up late into the night, talking, laughing and joking about anything that came into the conversation. It was pretty fun, and almost made me forget about tomorrow… the day I was planning to leave…


	25. Chapter 25: Home in Spargus

Kiri: ok, word of warning, I had to rush through this chapter because I have a TON of homework and VERY little time to do it all. Sucks, don't it? Anyways, I'm VERY sorry if it seems a bit weird, or out of charactor, but it's because of all the stupid work my teachers give me! ARGH! Chapter 26 will be up soon with yet another plot twist, so keep a look out for it, k?

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Chapter 25

I wish last night had lasted longer than just a few precious hours. It was the last time I got to spend with my past family before my departure. I admit, I was really going to miss them. And I also admit, when everyone had gone to sleep last night, I had just laid there thinking about having to say goodbye to them. And I had sobbed myself to sleep afterward.

Just before the sun came up, I slowly opened my eyes and turned over on my other side facing away from the wall. When things came into focus, I saw dad sitting in front of me, with his back facing me, just staring into space. It would've been creepy, but right now it wasn't. I slowly sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the cot.

"Dad…?" I whispered. He looked over his shoulder and smiled lightly at me. There was a brief moment of silence between us, and then he spoke.

"I heard you last night," he said quietly. Oh great… was I crying that loudly? I thought I was keeping them quiet enough so only I could hear. I guess not… He turned around. "You don't want to leave, do you?" I paused for a moment, thinking of how to answer, and I just shook my head. "Then don't." I perked up. "Just don't leave. Stay here. Torn says you're one of his best fighters, and I'm pretty sure that he'll need you again for something." I felt tears well up in my eyes, and I hung my head. Dad, I would LOVE to stay here with you guys and live out the rest of my life like this. Really, I would. But this is just something you wouldn't understand… a few solitary tears slid down my cheeks.

"I can't…" I whispered, "I just… can't." I felt dad's arms gently slide around me as he attempted to comfort me. "I don't belong here…" I rested my head against his muscular chest and listened to his steady heartbeat.

"You're one of the best fighters I know, Jakie," he whispered, "This is something I never thought I'd catch myself saying, but I'm proud of you, kid." Well, that's good to hear. I unconsciously snuggled up to him and sort of half smiled. I could tell his face had gone red again by the way he wasn't moving. I just giggled.

"I have a real nag for making you guys blush," I teased. I sat up strait still grinning at him.

"Yes, and I wish you'd stop it," dad answered.

"Oh, do you know? And what if I don't?" I wanted to know. I put my hands on my hips and batted my eyelashes at him a few times. Dad chuckled and sighed.

"You're one in a million, Jakie," he said, shaking his head slightly. I stood up and struck a goofy model pose

"You think so?" I teased, and started prancing around him, shaking my butt as I walked. When I reached the end of the cot, I stopped, put my wrist of to he forehead and pretended to faint, falling onto the cot, my head landing on dad's lap. He chuckled again.

"You are definitely one in a million, kid," he repeated. I giggled again.

"Is Uncle Torn up?" I asked, not bothering to sit up. Dad nodded. "Sheesh, doesn't he EVER sleep?" I finally stood up, allowing dad his freedom. The two of us decided to join Uncle Torn and see if we could torment him a little.

"Good morning, Uncle Torn!" I said cheerfully as I walked in with dad close behind. He looked up at me with that same 'Uncle Torn' smirk of his.

"Strange to see you so cheerful after all that crying you did last night," he taunted. …He heard TOO! Crap! Then again, Uncle Torn had always prided himself on his hearing and seeing skills and crap like that. I just sat down in the chair nearest him and pretended to pout.

"Meaniepants…" I murmured. I guess sometimes, there's nothing like a good cry. Usually after I cry, I feel really cheery and happy. But that rule only applies to girls, since to a guy, if you cry then you're weak! Men…

"It's going to be pretty different without you around, Jakie," Uncle Torn said, straitening a stack of papers in front of him. Awww, he cares! "After all, you're one of my best fighters, kid." I couldn't stop myself.

"Well, why don't you just give me a nice big hug then, Uncle Torn?" I teased. My grin got even wider when I said that. He gave me a funny look, obviously trying not to blush, and looked away. I sat back in my chair, giggling madly. Like men say: women and giggles.

A few hours later, the whole gang was outside the hideout in the dead end ally. Dawn and I were all ready to leave for the Power station and everything. Except… Uncle Torn, dad and Daxter were going to take me there. I really didn't think there was a need, but they insisted. Oh well. After I'd said goodbye to everyone, the five of us jumped in the zoomer and sped off. Somewhere along the way, daxter had started making faces at Uncle Torn while he was talking to dad about something. I was trying very hard not to laugh, until…

"Stop that! This is serious, you moron!" Uncle Torn shouted at Daxter. I snorted out a laugh, but tried hard not to have a fit. Dad reached over to hit Daxter, but he quickly struck a karate pose, causing dad to stop.

"Oh yeah, don't mess with the sugar!" he exclaimed. Dad rolled his eyes and stared back at the road ahead. That's when it happened…

"I'm bored, "Dawn complained, "Jakie, sing for us." CRAP! My face turned several different shades of red before dad and Daxter started urging me to start singing as well.

"You guys are so mean!" I exclaimed. "Dawn, why did you have to blab out that I sang!" my ottsel giggled, and they just kept urging me on. Eh, what the hell? I liked singing anyway. I thought of a song, cleared my throat and started singing.

_May it be an evening star  
Shines down upon you  
May it be when darkness falls  
Your heart will be true  
You walk a lonely road  
Oh! How far you are from home _

Morni?ut?i?(Quenya: Darkness has come) 1  
Believe and you will find your way  
Morni?alanti?(Quenya: Darkness has fallen)  
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadow's call  
Will fly away  
May it be your journey on  
To light the day  
When the night is overcome  
You may rise to find the sun

Morni?ut?i?(Quenya: Darkness has come)  
Believe and you will find your way

Morni?alanti?(Quenya: Darkness has fallen)  
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now

There was a brief silence when I finished. I didn't blush then. But I DID blush when they complimented me.

"Oh stow it," I told them, turning my beet red face away from them. I heard dad and Uncle Torn laughing at the fact that I was blushing for a change, and not them.

"Yeah, laugh it up," I snapped. "I'll get my revenge in the future…"

"Jakie, Jakie, Jakie," Dawn teased, "always so bent on revenge."

"I am not!" I argued. Dawn just shook her head. I turned my attention on the two men in front of me. "And you two aren't helping me any!" Dad chuckled, and Uncle Torn just smirked. Well, at least our last few moments together were fun.

When we finally got to the Power Station, I jumped out first with Dawn on my shoulder, and the others close behind. Time for another sentimental moment.

"Well… guess this is it, huh?" I said, switching my gaze between them. The first thing I did was hug dad tightly like I had done this morning. "Dad, when you get around to kicking the Baron's ass, hit him real good for me a few times, ok?"

"I'll keep that in mind," he answered. When I let him go, and dawn finished saying goodbye to her father, I scratched Daxter behind his ears.

"And you, try to stay out of trouble," I ordered.

"Can't make any promises there, kid," was his reply. I giggled, and then looked over at Uncle Torn.

"And you," I started, leaned on his shoulder, "You _will_ be cheerful and happy as much as you can without seeming out of character. Got it?" His cheeks turned a pale pinkish color. I backed up a little bit. "Well… guess I'll see you guys in about… _X_ years. When I'm born… I think… " I shrugged, then accidentally locked my eyes with dads. The mood instantly went from cheery to intense. He took a half step towards me and put his hand on my other shoulder. The one Dawn wasn't sitting on.

"It'll be different without you here, kid," he said.

"I know… now you have to go on all of your missions alone," I agreed, pretending to pout again.

"Just… take care of yourself, Jakie" was all he said before the three climbed back into the zoomer. I smiled as they glanced at me one last time. Uncle Torn gave me a small salute at the zoomer started to switch hover zones, and then sped off…

I looked up towards the Power Station where Vin waited for me. I was really going to miss the place… well, it had been one of my best adventures so far, so I couldn't really complain. I started to walk up the ramp, when I familiar figure in a Hellcat cruiser stopped nearby. For some reason, my gut feelings are always right. Erol, in all of his Krimzon Guard glory stepped out of the cruiser and approached me. Was it just me, or was this guy almost everywhere I was now? Stalker…

"What do you want, Sta- I mean, Erol?" I demanded, almost slipping and saying 'stalker' by mistake.

"You're leaving. I just wanted to say goodbye," he answered in his typical tough guy voice. He stopped less than a foot away from me and locked his eyes with mine. Creepy…

"And… how did you know?" I demanded, taking a half step back.

"I have my sources," he replied.

"Stalker," I said in attempt to kind of make him mad. He smirked. "Well, you've said it. Can I go home now?" he grabbed my wrist roughly, and closed my hand around something. I didn't look down to find out what, because I was too distracted with him leaning forward and muttering something too quietly for me to really hear clearly. But it sounded like, "Find the other half." Whatever that meant. I watched at he jumped back into his Hellcat. Why is it that whenever he does something weird like that, his actions always seem so sexy? Argh, Jakie, cut that out! You made up your mind about him a long time ago! Stick with your decision!

He just glanced at me before he sped off in his Hellcat. I was so stunned that I didn't even hear Dawn's comment about how messed up that guy was. But I snapped out of my stupor when she waved her hand in front of my face and yelled my name loudly.

"Sorry…" I uttered. I stared down at the thing that Erol had put in my hand. Some kind of… Precursor artifact. Why did he give this to me? And what was he up to? I don't know… Well, now that that awkward moment is over, it's time to get my butt back home.

I walked up the ramp and around to the Power station door and went inside. Of course, Mr. Seriously-needs-to-switch-to-decaf was there, pushing buttons and such. I cleared my throat loudly to get his attention. He jumped in surprise, but then sighed in relief when he saw me.

"Oh, Jakie. There you are. I've got the Warp Gate ready to be used. Just give me a sec to power it up," he said.

"Vin, you really need to chill out a little," I said. He said nothing, and just kept pushing buttons, pulling levers and a bunch of other crap until the Warp Gate off to the side of the room started glowing a little more intensely.

"There. All set," he informed. I smiled.

"Awesome. Thanks, Vin. And uh, try to relax a little more, will ya?" I said calmly and started walking towards the warp Gate.

"Yeah, lay off the caffeine!" Dawn added. I sighed and paused for a second.

"Aw damn it…" I said quietly.

"What?" Dawn and Vin asked at the same time. I shook my head.

"Nothing… It's just… hard to believe that I'm finally going home," I replied.

"Well, uh, good luck, Jakie," Vin said, waving slightly. I smiled over my shoulder.

"Thanks," I replied. I took a deep breath, looked at dawn for a little reassurance, and then jumped through the Warp Gate…

I closed my eyes tightly as the two of us darted through the rift like the first time. I don't think I'll ever get used to that weird teleporting feeling. It just way to awkward for my tastes. But not as awkward as the way Erol acts around me. I think that last encounter took the cake…

We were finally thrown out of the time rift, and we landed hard on the ground. Dawn tumbled over a few more times that I did, but we were still safe. I put my hands on either side of my head to try and ease away the slight headache I got from hitting the ground as hard as I did. When I regained my senses, I looked at my surroundings and recognized them immediately. I was in my garage. In my own time. I was back in Spargus.

I was home…


	26. Chapter 26: Underground Passage

Kiri: Sorry it took me so freaking long to update. I was just busy with some school stuff. I'm working on chapter 27 as we speak, so it'll be up real soon. promise.

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Chapter 26

I took a deep breath of desert air when I out outside. Damn, it was good to be home! But my mission wasn't finished yet! I still had to save my dad and the rest of my family from their deaths. Then again… I just got home, so why not have a little fun first? I quickly ran back in the house and grabbed the keys to the Sand Shark and went back outside where Dawn was demanding why I was going back in the house.

"Dawn, you feel like taking the Sand Shark out for a spin?" I asked, holding up the keys. He jumped up on my shoulder.

"Just don't drive crazy like the last time!" she exclaimed. I laughed, jumped on a Leaper Lizard and quickly headed towards the car yard.

It was empty, as usual. Kliever and his 'sidekick' Vegar had mysteriously disappeared a long time ago. When I say long time ago, I'm taking even before my family was killed. Yeah, that's a long time. Anyway, I hopped into the Sand Shark and quickly started it up. Dawn jumped off my shoulder and sat in the passenger seat next to me. I opened the glove compartment and dug through a bunch of long forgotten crappy artifacts that people, over time, found and didn't want. I finally pulled out pair of goggles like the ones my dad always wore. These were his spares. I held them in my hands for a moment, and then put them on over my forehead. Now I just have to find… wait, it was there on the mirror in front of my face this whole time? Argh, stupid, stupid, stupid… I grabbed the red scarf off from the mirror and tied it around my neck. Ok, now I'm ready.

After pulled the scarf of over my nose, and pulling the goggles over my eyes, I drove out into the desert for a good long joyride. But that joyride ended very quickly when I stumbled onto a weird structure that wasn't on any of the wasteland maps. The moment I saw it, I quickly drove closer and stopped In front of it. I pushed my goggles up to my hairline to get a better look at it.

"What is that thing?" Dawn asked, hopping on my shoulder for a better look. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure… but it looks like some kind of… door," I replied.

"Door to what?" the ottsel questioned. I shook my head.

"Don't know… maybe some kind of underground passage…" I grabbed my sword and jumped out.

"Jakie… hold it! You aren't going in there, are you!" Dawn exclaimed worriedly. I didn't reply. "Well fine! You can go and get killed all you want to1 but I'm staying right here! There's no way I'm going down there!" I touched the sand covered door and it opened at my touch. Weird, huh? I looked down, expecting to see any elevator or something, but there was nothing. It was all just pitch black… Well, I always love a god adventure. "Absolutely zippo chance!" Dawn finished. Well, I know you don't want to go, Dawn, but you're my best friend, and I need you, buddy. Sorry…

"Jakieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

It was a long way down. I was surprised. But I still landed gracefully on my feet, while Dawn flopped on the ground a couple times. I stifled a laugh as she got up. I knelt down and let her back on my shoulder and nothing was said.

The two of us walked around and explored for a little while. This place was definitely here for a reason as far as I could tell. But what? Well, one way to find out… my question was soon answered when I came to the end of the dimly lit tunnel and found myself in a huge stadium-like place… the path turned and continued in a downward to my left, and the cliff side was blocked off my stalagmites and stalactites. But it was what was going on below that interested me.

"Have you found that brat yet?" a gruff voice demanded.

"Not yet, sir. But we're looking," came a more feminine voice. Sounded like Seem.

"She's his daughter! She looks just like him! How hard can it be to find her?" that voice sounded oddly familiar… and whom were they talking about? "That Mar girl can't hide from me forever… as long as I have her family, she won't go far." Holy CRAP! They're talking about ME? And… wait a minute… did he just say…? My family is alive…? I felt a warm sensation course through my veins. They're all alive… Thank the Precursors… But that jerk, whoever he is, still has them. That attack seven years ago must've been meant to capture us all. Or just my family to draw me out. Either way, my family was here and I was going to find them no matter what.

When I heard the room clear out, I couldn't help but wonder who had been talking. I knew for sure it was Seem, but the other one… not so sure.

"Dawn… tell me your heard that," I whispered. She nodded.

"Yep." I stood up. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go find them, partner!" I grinned and nodded in agreement. When I got to the bottom, I saw several cells in the far wall. They all looked empty until I got a closer look. Someone was in one of them… and I knew him too.

"Kliever?" I asked in amazement. He looked up at me, and smirked at me.

"Well, if it isn't little Jakie Mar. Haven't you grown," he replied.

"All this time you were here? In a cell?" I asked, still stunned. He nodded.

"Yep. All thanks to that wretched Vegar." Vegar! He was behind all this? But… he was an ottsel!

"Vegar…? How…?" I started.

"I'll spare ya the details later, kid. Good ta see ya again, too. And if yer looking fer your father, he's down at the lowest level. I see 'im sometimes, but he's usually worried to death about ya, since Vegar is looking for ya's fer some experiment," he explained. I wasn't sure weather to smile or cry.

"Kliever… I'll come back and get you under one condition," I started.

"And what would that be?"

"That you skin Vegar alive and make him into a turban."

"Deal!" I smiled widely.

"So he's on the lowest level? Right. Thanks, Kliever! I'll be back as soon as I can!" I quickly ran off.

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Kiri: well, that was an interesting twist of fate, was it not? heh, I hate Vegar so much... Well, I'm off to work on Chappie 27 now! When Jakie finds Ashelin and Daxter!


	27. Chapter 27: Stop Number One

Kiri: ok, bad news. I HAVE WRITERS BLOCK! AND THE STUPID MAILMAN WON'T GET HERE WITH THE REPLY TO THE LETTER I SENT TO NAUGHTYDOG! I HATE STUPID SNAIL MAIL SO MUCH! IT TAKES FREAKING FOREVER TO GET TO ITS DESTINATION! (blows up)

ok... I'm better now...

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Chapter 27 

After several more levels of battling KG death bots and a few metal heads, I ran into a dead end. Well, there was a door, but it wouldn't open. And… I was about to blast it open with my Peacemaker, when I heard a surprised call.

"Jakie! Is that really you?" I jumped ten feet forward, accidentally hitting the wall.

"Ow! Crap! Whose stupid idea was it to put a wall here?" I exclaimed angrily before looking around for whom ever said my name.

"Jakie, look!" Dawn exclaimed. I whirled around and looked at the cells behind me. Oh my God… Ashelin!

"Aunt Ashelin!" I yelled automatically and darted forward towards her.

"My God you've grown," she commented.

"Yeah, well, it happens," I replied, "Is there a way to open this stupid thing…?"

"The control for all the cells are at the bottom level," she answered. Great… more to look for… I sighed and leaned against the wall. This was going to be a long trip… "You know, Jakie… you didn't have to go back to Haven city like you did." I looked up.

"Yeah, I just kind of figured that out myself… And I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," I said.

"It's ok. The others are down in the lower levels. I know that your father is on the lowest, but I'm not exactly sure where. You'll have to find Daxter and have him lead you there," she explained.

"Daxter got away?" I inquired.

"Yes. He was stuck up here with me, but he somehow got out and now he's sort of a messenger for us." I nodded, "Jakie, you have to hurry and find Jak. From what I've heard, he's scared half to death about you. He's afraid that Vegar will get his hands on you and… well, I'd rather not say. " I nodded again.

"Right… I'll get there as fast as I ca-" I was suddenly cut off by some weird noise. It sounded like claws or something scraping against metal… Daxter? Better not get my hopes up.

Yep. Daxter. He entered through a hole in the wall that was hidden in the shadows in the back of Aunt Ashelin's cell.

"Got some more news for ya, Ashe!" he exclaimed. Heh, Dexter never ceases to amaze me. The moment the ottsel saw Dawn and I, he froze and a look of joy spread over his face.

"Jakie! Dawn! Tell me I'm not seeing things!" he exclaimed.

"No, you're not seeing things, Dax," I replied. He immediately jumped through the bars and hugged Dawn, complimenting our heights and doing the whole 'adult' thing.

"So, what's the news, Daxter?" Aunt Ashelin asked.

"I just got back from Torn's level. He says that Vegar put a new guard dog there that's twice as big as the first," the ottsel explained. Guard Dog? Oh joy…

"Looks like I got a lot to look forward to…" I grumbled.

"Oh, Jakie, Jak told me to give you this if I ever saw you," Daxter interrupted, tossing something in my direction. I quickly caught it and looked at it after fumbling with it for a moment to get a grip on it. The Seal of the House of Mar. Aw, dad… I smiled.

"Thanks," I said simply.

"Daxter, I want you to go down to the bottom level and meet Jakie there and lead her to Jak," Ashelin interjected. He nodded.

"I'll be waiting for ya, Jakie," then he ran off. I looked at my Aunt.

"I'll be back later, ok?"

"Hurry, Jakie." I turned and ran towards the door. I held up dad's seal and the door opened, revealing a staircase. I glanced back at Aunt Ashelin again, and then Dawn and I ran down the steps.

* * *

Kiri: Really short, I know... stupid writers block... anyways, I'll put a nice, long, graphic battle into the next chapter, but you guys will have to be patient for a while since I'm having trouble getting through this part. so just tape your shirts down for a while, and I PROMISE it'll be worth it! 


	28. Chapter 28: Bottom Level

Kiri: sorry about the wait. I had writers block for a while there, but I think I'm over it now. the climax is coming up. You can almost be certain that it's gonna start next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 28

I was really surprised by the sudden disappearance of guards and enemies… I'd had to fight like hell to get to Ashelin… I wonder what happened? Well, I guess they weren't expecting anyone to get this far. I only had to take down say… four death bots to get to the cellblock beneath Aunt Ashelin's. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't run into Vegar along the way. I would've LOVED to rip his teeth out. Oh well, I'll kill him later.

I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs with my seal. Dawn leapt off my shoulder and onto the ground, bounding a few steps ahead. I was gazed around at the room.

"Ok, so now where are we?" Dawn asked.

"Cellblock three," I replied.

"How do you know that? Do you know everything?" I sighed, letting some of my irritation show.

"It's over there on the wall, Dawn."

"…Oh." I rolled my eyes.

"Lets just hurry and find Uncle Torn, ok?"

"Jakie!" I whipped around out of surprise.

"Torn!" I cried.

"Torn!" Dawn repeated.

"Dawn?"

"Jakie!"

"Torn!"

"Jakie!"

"Stop it…"

"Dawn!"

"Torn!"

"Jakie!"

"Stop it."

"Dawn!"

"Torn!"

"Jakie!"

"STOP IT!" The room went quiet. I walked over and stood in front of Uncle Torn. "Now that that's done with…"

"I can't believe you're actually here…! I thought I'd never see you again!" Torn said as enthusiastically as he could. I smiled.

"Well, I'm here."

"You've grown a lot…" Knew that was coming… "You look like you did back in the Underground." I blushed. "You didn't have to waste time going back there, you know."

"Yes, I know, Uncle." I sighed, "But on a more serious note, we need to know what to expect and how to get these bars opened."

"The controls for everything are down on the lowest level where Jak is being kept. But you'll have to be careful because there's been some strange activity down there lately… I think Vegar is screwing around with things he shouldn't…"

"Uh-huh… I guess I better be ready then, huh?" I watched him pull something out of his pocket.

"Also, I think you'll need this. I snagged it from one of the guards a couple months back. It looks like a security pass, so it's of no use to me." He dropped a key card in my hand.

"Awesome! Now let's go kick Vegar's sorry butt!" Dawn exclaimed, striking a goofy karate pose. Uncle Torn sneered lightly and I giggled.

"Thanks, Uncle Torn. I'll have you out of here as soon as I can, ok?" He gave me his 'Uncle Torn' smirk. I smiled, shoved the card in my pocket and ran for the door.

Things were starting to get very creepy, because I didn't run into any problems at all. Ok, I think the red flag just went up… this is not right at all… time to get the sword back out, I think.

Three levels went by of only a few easy enemies, then the bottom level…it was almost pitch black, and I kept bumping into things. Dawn jumped back on my shoulder and held on to my shoulder plate for dear life. I put my sword away, knowing it wouldn't do me any good in this darkness, so I flipped out my Peacemaker and turned on the small flashlight.

"Jakie-" I whirled around. Daxter.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry. This is the wondrous bottom level where Vulgar is keeping my boy Jak."

"Nice environment," I said dully.

"He's in pretty bad shape, Jakie. So be prepared." I sighed, and shivered at the thought of seeing my father again… Daxter started climbing over various chunks of rubble and old machines that looked years old and ducking under old water pipes. Not to mention the floor was covered by about an inch of water and there were several bad leaks from above … creepy.

The older ottsel lead me through a huge maze of rubble until we reached the very back. Dawn jumped onto an old computer type machine and slammed her foot on it a couple times to get it working. I found myself in front of a large cell door, like the ones in the palace where I'd been held prisoner and injected with eco for two months strait. There was a small keypad off to the side…

"Daxter, do you know the combination?" I asked quickly.

"Nope," he replied. Great! Now what? I kneeled down next to the keypad and started punching in a code I'd picked up that I heard could crack passwords. When I'd fully entered it, I hit 'Enter'. The door creaked, but didn't open. Well, the code worked… but the door was stuck.

"Come on, move!" I exclaimed, slamming my fist into it.

"Maybe there's not enough power… or maybe it's stuck," Dawn suggested. Growling in frustration, I kicked the door hard, and… it slid open. Ok, that was really weird. I smiled softly in satisfaction and stood up to search the cell for my father.

But the second I saw him, my heart nearly stopped…

* * *

Kiri: I'll leave it at that for all you readers to eat your sofas over. BWAHAHAHA! lol, anyways, hopefull chapter 29 will be up sooner this time. I've decided what I want to do for the big battle between Jakie and Vulgar.

Vegar: It's Vegar, you idiot!

Kiri: whatever. anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter!


	29. Chapter 29: Crazy Little Girl

Kiri: Finally, after battling another case of writers block, CHAPTER 29! Be prepared for something... strange... near the end, too.

* * *

Chapter 29

"F…father…" I stuttered at hardly a whisper. Daxter had told me that dad was in bad condition, but I didn't imagine it would be THIS bad! He was lying on a small bench on his back, shirtless, scars and cuts all over him, along with several big nasty looking bruises that signified cracked or broken ribs. His skin was pale… probably from blood loss and lack of sun. His hair was much longer now; it reached his shoulder blades, and some was slightly stained red, I guess from head wounds. His expression was what hurt me the most… he looked in pain, afraid, sad, and furious all at once.

"I told you he wasn't doing to well," Daxter suddenly spoke up, pulling me from my train of thought and back to our present situation. Daxter leapt onto my dad's chest and tried to wake him up. "Hey, Jak! Wake up!" Nothing… well, he's definitely still as lazy as I remember… "Jak! Come on! It's me, Daxter!"

My heart stopped when I watched dad open his blue eyes halfway, and his lips twitch into a very, very small smile at the sight of his best friend. I opened my mouth to call him, but the words got stuck in my throat. I don't know why Dawn didn't speak up and get his attention for me… maybe it was because she was as stunned as I was… or maybe because she just wanted to keep her distance so we could have our reunion.

"You ok, buddy?" Daxter asked.

"Not really," was his reply. His voice was slightly hoarse and raspy, and it cracked, but it wasn't too bad… The second her spoke, my voice suddenly came back and I just blurted out what I wanted to say.

"Dad…!" He immediately looked at me, paused for only a second, then sprang up and embraced me tightly, and muttered my name several names. It was clear that he was on he verge of sobbing. I felt several tears hit my shoulder, but like I cared at the time. I was finally back in my dads arms, where I belonged.

"Jakie… I thought I'd never see you again…" he whispered.

"Me too…" I whispered back, "I thought you were dead." We released each other and made eye contact. I've never seen such joy and relief in his eyes before… another silver tear ran down his cheek, but he wiped it away quickly.

"I was worried half to death about you… are you alright?" I nodded once.

"I'm perfect."

"Good." Then I felt his fingers tracing over the scars on my cheek from when I'd battled Dark Jak in Haven City. "I remember giving you these… I can't believe you went though so much just to save me." Yeah, I blushed, even though I'd heard that same comment three times now. I would've loved to stay and catch up with you, pop, but first things first!

"Dad, we really have to get out of here before Vegar discovers that I've broken in. Do you know where the controls for the other cells are?" he thought for a second.

"I think so," he replied.

"Excellent. Now lets get the hell out of here!" Dawn exclaimed. She and Daxter started running out of the cell, when I heard Dawn scream suddenly.

"Dawn!" I cried in surprise, "what's wrong?" I saw Daxter poke his head in the door.

"Jakie, if you have some magnificent back up plan in mind… now is the time to use it," he said simply. Uh oh… that was not a good sign… Dad and I looked at each other, gave each other a confirming nod, and stepped out of the cell.

Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. There was Count Vegar, in all his glory, accompanied by nearly an entire army of death bots.

"Just as I expected. The Mar brat comes right to me and walked right into a trap," he mused with his typical cocky 'I'm-smarter-and-better-than-you-in-every-possible-aspect-imaginable' voice. I snorted.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Vulgar," I answered, purposely mispronouncing his name just to piss him off.

"It's Vegar! Vegar, you idiot!"

"Whatever," I replied.

"Seize them!" Vegar barked. The bots started to move in, but I threateningly snatched my sword from its resting place.

"You can try!" I said in as dark a tone as I could. They stopped again. "I doubt it would get you very far. I'm deadly with this blade. And since I know how to power it up with dark eco now, I wouldn't do anything stupid." Well, it's obvious that didn't work. They still seized us. Vegar, with his typical snotty attitude got right in my face.

"Don't worry, Jakie. This experiment won't be as painful as the dark eco injections. And besides, you've just saved a lot of necks by coming after your eco freak father," he hissed. That did it. Despite the grip that his goons had on me, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into the side of his neck. He screamed bloody murder, and the guards immediately tried to pull me away, but it only ended up in me tearing a good sized chunk out of Vegars throat. Dad, Daxter and dawn seemed satisfied by my actions, of course, even though they were looking at the whole thing like they were going to be sick.

"You crazy little brat!" Vegar cried after I spit out the chunk of his neck I'd bitten off. I smirked at him. "I'll have you hobbled for this!" Then he smacked me. Hard. Going to have a big bruise there later on… But I still had an ace up my sleeve… time to use it.

"You know, Vegar… it wouldn't be a smart thing to piss one of us off enough to lose control. Because our dark sides… are a lot nastier than dad and I are," I taunted. I must have a freaking death wish. But I kept going, despite how much my common sense was screaming at me. I glanced at dad to see if he was catching on, and from what I could see, he knew exactly what I meant.

* * *

Kiri: Ooooooh! Dark Jak Strikes again! Anyways... for those of you that don't know what hobbling is, it's when they take a sludge hammer and shatter your ankle joints and you never walk again. Yikes. o.o hope you guys liked this chapter, and that little... vampiric bit I threw in there because I hate Vegar. lol.


	30. Chapter 30: The Chase

Kiri: Awww! You guys melted my itty bitty heart! I love you all! Since your reveiws are all so awesome, I might just finish this story this weekend, since I have all this time on my hands! the next couple of chapters will just be them preping for battle and such, and a couple more left out questions will be answered! Like that thing that Erol gave to Jakie when she left, and the whole 'you'll find it in the forest' thing. Well, anyways, I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit... lacking in the detail department, but I kind of had to rush.

* * *

Chapter 30

It's times like these I'm glad that Jak Mar is my father. Because when he transformed into Dark Jak, the only ones left standing were the four of us, plus Vegar, who had run away like a coward during the fight. And, thank the Precursors, he had changed back on his own so I didn't have to kick his ass to get him to change back into my old man.

"Looks like you've been practicing," I teased.

"Well, when you're stuck in a cell for so many years you tend to run out of things to do," dad replied, then gave me a weird look, "you should know that." I guess he's right. After all, I'd spent two months locked up in a cell being tortured by dark eco injections. I'd been bored as all hell when I was shut up in that pathetic spit of room.

"I guess you're right…" I admitted, "but enough of that! I have to get to the cellblock controls and release the others."

"Right, it's this way," dad said and quickly ran off. I followed, of course. Dawn and Daxter were running behind us, jibber jabbering away about this and that and catching up on their lives.

After a good long run around the overly large room, jumping over rubble and ducking under pipes and such, dad led me to another set of controls and switches.

"This is it," dad announced. I immediately began fiddling with the switches, trying to figure things out. It was a bit more difficult than it seemed.

"So uh," I heard Daxter start as he hopped up on the large rubbles heap nearest to me. "How's the rest of the family?" I froze. Crap, I forgot to tell him earlier! Now what the hell was I going to do?

"Well, dad…" Dawn began, "You see… when the attack happened… Jakie and I were lucky enough to take shelter, but the others… well…"

"They were crushed to death," I finished. A long eerie silence filled the room. Way to go, Jakie! Just blurt out the truth and get everyone all upset! Argh, stupid, stupid, stupid…

"All of them…?" Daxter squeaked. I slowly nodded.

"Yes. Dawn and I are the only ones still alive. For a long time, we thought that we were the only ones left in the entire family. I guess persistence does pay off," I said, throwing a tiny smirk at Dawn.

"Hey, that wasn't funny, Jakie!" she exclaimed.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Dawn," I replied. I flipped a few more switches. "Ok, I think I got it. Now lets get the hell out of here and go back home!"

We'd made it only a few levels before we ran into trouble. I stopped dead along with everyone else when I saw Vegar again. Him and his greedy little smirk… that look of his makes me sick. He had a scarf tied around his neck, hiding the missing chunk I'd taken out of him. Heh.

"Going somewhere, eco freaks?" he taunted. I folded my arms.

"As a matter of fact, yes we are!" I answered in a smart-assy tone. "Now unless you want another piece of neck taken out of you, you'll stand aside." Oh, that stupid look of his! I HATE it! I watched curiously as he pointed his scepter at something… I don't know what happened, but the next thing I knew, there was a rather large Precursor robot standing behind us. Crap.

"RUN!" Dawn suddenly screamed. Good plan buddy! So all four of us ran like hell, shoving Vegar out of the way.

"Kill them!" Vegar ordered, and the chase began.

We all dashed up the stairs as fast as we could. Since the stairway was small, I was hoping that it would give us a few seconds to spare. When we reached the top of the stairs, I opened the door with my seal and quickly closed it after we were through. Uncle Torn wasn't there… but his cell was opened… well, maybe he was outside waiting for us? I hope so… in the meantime, the four of us ran like hell, trying the bar the robots path as best we could to get a little extra time. Aunt Ashelin wasn't on her level either. Nor was Kliever. I hope that they're just outside, waiting! Once at the elevator shaft, we used our extra time to get the stupid thing working, then we shot skyward.

I was right. Uncle Torn, Aunt Ashelin and Kliever were all waiting for us outside. That's a relief.

"There you are! We thought Vegar had caught you!" Uncle Torn exclaimed. Dad and I immediately jumped in the Sand Shark. The others followed suit.

"Can we continue this at home? Because we've got a damn robot on our asses!" I exclaimed. Once I was sure that everyone was in, I slammed my foot down on the accelerator petal and sped off towards Spargus. After only a few seconds, the rock that hid the elevator exploded and the Precursor robot, obviously very pissed off now, started up the rockets on its legs and charged after us. "For fucks sake!" I yelled. The things I go through for my family… It was gaining on us, slowly but surely. It's times like these I wish Sig were here.

"It's gaining, Jakie! Do something!" Dawn shouted. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I felt the Earth trembling as that thing slowly closed the distance between us.

"Veer, Jakie! Veer!" Uncle Torn hollered to me. Good idea, uncle! I jerked the steering wheel to the side and the Sand Shark cut off and sped in another direction. It gave us some more distance.

"You've definitely improved, kid," dad complimented.

"No kidding. I'm in a damn panic right now!" I replied. I was telling the truth. Then something occurred to me. I had a damn Peacemaker! Ok, this is silly! "Dad, can you take the wheel?" He nodded quickly and we switched positions. I reached for my Peacemaker and started to shoot at the robot while dad drove towards Spargus like a lunatic.

I missed… I don't know how many shots because I was so damn nervous. But I had plenty of ammo. Well, sort of. I landed several shots on its head, slowing it down some, and a couple on one of the rockets. And then dad veered sharply off to the side, and I almost fell out of the vehicle. Argh, how the hell am I supposed to shoot that damn thing when he's driving like a chimpanzee! Ok… take careful aim… don't rush… just make this hit coun- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT! The damn thing had a lazar! And it damn near hit us!

"Dad… go faster…" I squeaked. He veered again, putting us out of range of the lazar. Holy CRAP! That scared the hell out of me, I swear! During my few second break, I caught my breath. "I'm suddenly glad I kept this thing in good shape."

"Look like you have your mothers mechanic skills," Kliever commented. Hold it…! Mechanic? My mother? There's only one mechanic I know of and… is it possible?

"I wouldn't exactly know, since no one ever told me about my mother," I replied, getting into a shooting position again. The robot was getting pretty pissed at us. Since it's eyes were now bright red.

"Keira was your mother, Jakie!" Dad called over his shoulder, "Sorry I never told you." So that's it, huh? Well, at least I know now.

"Uh, Jakie…?" Dawn said, staring at the robot that was now right behind us, charging up its lazar. I let out a started yelp and open fired on it until something, anything happened! I managed to blow up one of the rockets on its legs, and I think I jammed the lazar… I HOPE I did.

"So… Keira was my mother? Wasn't she the one that Erol was trying to charm?"

"Eh, that bastard tried to charm you, too," Dawn added. I snorted.

"Like that would ever happen… he's a creep as far as I'm concerned. And I think we finally lost that… whatever it was."


	31. Chapter 31: I'm Smarter Then That

Kiri: OH MY GOD I AM SO FREAKING SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN TEN MILLION YEARS I HAD WRITERS BLOCK AND THIS CHAPTER WAS JUST SO BORING TO WRITE AND I HAD THE DISTRICT TESTS TO STUDY FOR! I AM SOOOOO SORRY!  
anyways... PLEASE, forgive me for being so damn late! I'm sorry! it'll never happen again, I promise!

* * *

Chapter 31

"That was nuts," I commented when we'd all got the chance to relax. "I never thought that Vegar of all people would be behind this whole thing…"

"Well, now that we're all here, we can relax a little," Aunt Ashelin added. Heh, good idea… I could definitely use it. "It looks alike a few of us could use the rest." She was obviously referring to everyone that fought. So… that narrows the list down to me, dad, Uncle Torn…

"And I can start figuring out a way to kill Vegar. The bastard…" I muttered, "I outta go back there and shoot his ass to pieces…" Dawn sighed.

"It's always the same with you, Jakie. Shoot first, ask questions later," she teased. I smirked.

"And that's the reason the two of us are still breathing and not festering in the stomach of some metal head. Yeesh, bad images," I replied.

"Jakie, you turned out to be exactly like Jak, didn't you?" Uncle Torn asked.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't…" So I was getting a bit cocky. So what? Well, some things never change, I guess.

I basically spent the rest of the day filling everyone in on what had happened while they'd all been locked up, and taking care of everyone's wounds. I admit, even though I'd just seen everyone before I came back here through the warp gate, I was glad to see them again. Dad and I walked around Spargus several times, just talking about how much things have changed and how much I'd grown, and things like that. Adults are funny sometimes. I can tell you one thing, I plan on spending a lot of my time kicking back because I'm all but in the mood to be running around like a fool. Besides, my muscles are killing me.

After a nice long day of work, Dawn and I finally got to relax… finally… I was just in my room lounging on my bed, just… existing and being a useless waste of space. I sighed deeply and turned on my side.

"Hey Jakie…" Dawn started suddenly.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"What are we going to do about Vegar? He could try to kill us all again…" I yawned lightly.

"He does and he'll find himself facing my wrath," I replied. Dawn climbed up onto the bed and then stood on my hip.

"But what if he's too powerful be then? Yknow? Then what do we do?" Dawn, you're such a worrywart…

"We find his weakness and kick his ass after," I answered.

"Why are you always so mellow about these things, Jakie?" I rolled over onto my back and knocked her down.

"Because I have too much of dad in me." Dawn quickly climbed up onto my stomach.

"You're definitely unique, Jakie." I chuckled lightly and yawned again.

"Not really. If I'm a lot like my dad, then I'm not one of a kind, am I?"

"I didn't say you were one of a kind. I said you were unique." I just snorted.

"Whatever you say, buddy."

"Yeah, whatever _I _say." I flipped over again, causing her to fall over for the second time.

"Let's just not worry about Vegar right now. When the time comes, we'll deal with him, but right now, our main concern is the family. So stop worrying, ok?"

"I hope you're right about this, Jakie…" I smiled.

"Relax. I have it all under my thumb. Vegar won't get away from me, and he won't kill me, either. I'm smarter then that."

"Alright, I'll trust you, Jakie. But just because you're my best friend and I have faith in you." Awwww.

"Thanks, Dawn."

* * *

Kiri: Awww! their best friends forever! awww! LOL. anyways, I'm REALLY sorry about taking a freaking... month... to update this... really... don't eat me... please...


	32. Chapter 32: Save The Day

Kiri: GAH! I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated in like... forever again! Busy again... But guess what? I FINALLY got an idea! yay!

* * *

Chapter 32

I'm not sure how much time passed when I finally started wondering if we were really safe now… I doubted it. Vegar was still at large, and that was reason enough to worry. If I were him, I'd send every metal head and deathbot in existence to Spargus to wipe us out… That little talk with Dawn I had a few hours ago really got me to thinking about it. It's funny, really. When we'd had that little conversation, I'd been completely confident, but now… I'm not so sure of things. I guess I'm starting to realize that I love my family far too much to destroy it. If I stay here in Spargus and the attack comes, I'll never be able to protect them, but if I leave to find Vegar and kill him before the attack, my life is sure to be taken.

Decisions, decisions.

Either way, lives will be lost and hearts will be broken. There's no way I could live through my fathers death again, and he loves me far too much to see me die, especially after he hasn't seen me in so long. Not to mention I'm the last link in the Mar bloodline.

I finally stood up. I'd been standing on this cliff, staring at the sky for Mar only knows how long. I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to think. Doubt it was really doing me any good… I looked back at the Dune Hopper, and then I pulled the keys out of my pocket. I could go… I could leave right now without anyone knowing it… Sighing, I stared up at the moon, the gentle breeze blowing a few stray locks of hair in my face. The keys were in my hand, no one was around for miles, and I had everything I needed for the final showdown… The conditions were perfect.

Hesitently, I started up the Dune Hopper, pulled down my goggles and my scarf. I knew that everyone was going to kill me when I returned, if I returned. But I had to finish this once and for all. My foot hit the accelerator petal and I was off. Since Vegars 'desert hideout' had been destroyed, there were only a few places in the desert he could go without detection. Number one on my list: The Monk Temple.

I hit the breaks and the car came to a halt. I put on the emergency break so it wouldn't roll away, and then I jumped out and proceeded inside. Since Dad had clearedthe temple of Dark Eco Creatures, the monks had made sure to keep it that way, and had done a pretty good job. There were a few annoyances here and there, but nothing I can't handle. My footsteps echoed through the halls as I walked towards the top of the temple. If there's one thing that will never change about this place, it's the fact that it takes two years to traverse it.

Eventually, I was at the top level and, you guessed it, Vegar was there. Turning my expression from blank and slightly regretful to a scowl of hate, I slowly drew my sword…

"Before you kill me, Jakie," Vegar suddenly spoke out, "allow me to say one thing." He turned around.

"Speak," I growled.

"What do you hope to gain by leaving your family, coming all the way out here just to kill me?" he asked.

"My families safety," I replied, "I'm sick of losing them to an evil, scummy piece of shit like you. It ends right here, right now, and not a god damn fucking thing you say or do is going to change that. I will leave this place with your head no matter what happens."

"Quite a tongue for a girl so young," he taunted.

"Shut your mouth, Vegar. You won't be around long enough to hear my full vocabulary."

"If you say so, Mar."

"Now I have a question for you. How did you change back from an ottsel to a human?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh, it was rather simple. I just had to speak with the precursor oracle. It was rather… generous," he answered.

"You are a bastard." There was a long silence between us as we stared each other down. I felt my hatred and anger draw closer to the breaking point… any minute I would lose it…

"Do what you must, Jakie," Vegar finally said turning away from me. …What…? So he was just going to LET me kill him? Ok, something's… fishy. But at the time, do you think that appealed to me? NOOOO! I, like a fool, just walked towards him, raised my sword for the kill, and guess what? He turned around and stuck his scepter right into my abdomen! Oh, that was REAL smart, Jakie! REAL smart!

Pain quickly flooded my senses and out of reflex, I grabbed the object that had just penetrated my stomach. I knew it had gone all the way through. Call it instinct… Vegar grinned at me tauntingly, mocking my pain, then ripped his scepter back out of me. I stumbled back two steps before hitting the ground.

"Well, well. I knew revenge would be the end of you. If you only knew what an influence you had on my army… they were all scared to death of you because of your little legacy in Haven city," Vegar rambled on. I coughed painfully and drug air back into my lungs several times. I felt Vegar kick my sword out of reach. He must've picked it up because he complimented it. "This is a beautiful sword… well crafted… balanced… sturdy… It's obviously seen it's fair share of battle because it's been sharpened several times over…" I screamed bloody murder as he struck my own sword into my stomach just above the first wound and then twisted it. He was enjoying every second of this torture… "That was for that piece you took out of my neck."

All I could do for the next few minutes was gasp for air and hope that the pain would just go away. I knew it wouldn't, however.

"Now that you're completely defenseless, I have to decide what to do with you… I could kill you and then kill your precious family… or just keep you here and make your life miserable… so hard to choose…" he paused, "so if I decided to kill your family… what order shall they die in? You decide." If I get out of this mess, I'm going to hurt him SO badly… Vegar continued to taunt me as I just lay there bleeding. No one knew I was way out here, so whom could I count on to come save the day? I could hardly move, my sword was almost across the room, and Vegar had the upper hand… What could I do? Nothing.

This could be that last anyone ever hears of Jakie F. Mar…

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Kiri: heheh... is that evil or what? And the title was pleasantly misleading. Not to mention the huge cliffhanger here. lol, you guys will just have to wait until I get 33 up! Sorry! (dodges flying objects and runs from the angry mobs with pitchforks and tortches)


	33. Final Chapter: I Won't Forget

Kiri: Well... to be honest, I didn't really like this chapter. Maybe I'll go back sometime and fix it... You'll see what I'm talknig about when you read it.

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Chapter 33

So this was it… this was how I was going to die… well, at least I was killed in action… But what really burns me up about it is that it was Vegar who killed me. Bastard. I was losing blood fast, my vision was beginning to blur, and my other four senses were also starting to go. My limbs felt numb, the taste of blood in my mouth was declining, and I was having trouble holding onto Vegars voice. I needed some kind of reference point and Vegar was the only thing I could hear. I didn't want it to be Vegar, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Jakie, Jakie, Jakie… if only you could see yourself now…" he continued. There's really nothing worse than being humiliated my your arch enemy when you're slowly dying. I swear, it's got to be the worst death imaginable… "If only you knew how much I'm enjoying watching your life slowly slip away…" I don't have to guess because I have a pretty good idea already. "After your death, of course, I'll finish what I started with your family." Yeah, keep talking, jackass. The more you open your big mouth, the madder I get. And believe me… you won't like me when I'm pissed off, pal. "I wish you're grandfather Damas were still alive to see this… I can only imagine his reaction." That does it.

I opened my eyes and guess what happened? My eco took control. I don't have a very clear image of what happened… I remember blood… a lot of blood, loud ear shattering screams and more blood. I'm pretty used to seeing things like that on almost a daily basis, but this was enough blood to give me nightmares for weeks. That's really saying something. I couldn't tell whose it was, but I had my suspicions. But what I knew for sure was that my rage had hit a peak and Vegar was the one that just happened to be the victim to face my wrath. Bastard. I never felt so angry in my entire life…

When I changed back to normal, I was still trembling from my rage. I had forgotten all about my wounds, and my attention was all on Vegar. Or, what was left of him. Wow, I'd nearly killed him. He could hardly stand up, he was drenched in blood and, well you get the idea.

"Like father like daughter… dark and merciless right down to the core…" he said. I was sick of his attitude. "And to think… you are blinded by it all…" I didn't know what he meant by that, but I really didn't care. I was too pissed off to care. After a brief silence, I jumped forward, knocked him to the floor and started punching his face with all the strength I could muster. Again and again my fist smashed into his skull, and every time there was a sickening _crack_ signifying that his skull was buckling under the strength of my blows. I kept punching until I found myself smashing the remains of his head into the ground. I'd won the battle. Finally…

I wasn't even aware of the fact that I was also blood drenched by now. There's no telling how long I sat, staring at Vegar's mutilated body, savoring my victory. My family was safe at last, my legacy was over. Maybe now I could finally just live out the rest of my life without any problems. That's what I was hoping, at least.

The drive back home to Spargus was long and uneventful, which was good in ways. I wasn't in the mood to be dealing with marauders and things like that. When I get home, the first thing I'm going to do is take a shower, then sleep for two days strait. About half way there my wounds started aching again. A few times I thought I was going to pass out at the wheel. Luckily I didn't, and I made it back to Spargus without getting killed. I parked quietly in the car yard, stuck the keys away, grabbed my belongings and started heading home. It took me a while because of the burning pain in my abdomen, but I still managed.

Funny thing is, I didn't go home, I went to the palace. I did say that I wanted to shower, right? And here the place is so big that I wouldn't be disturbing anyone. Besides, I could come here any time I wanted because my granddad was the King of Spargus before his death. Anyway, I tiptoed around the place until I found a shower. A big shower, too. I let the water run for a little while so it could heat up, then I stripped my bloody clothes and stepped in.

For about ten minutes, I just stood there thinking of the battle with Vegar. I'd never forget those images. Ever. The mere thought of all the blood I'd seen is more than enough to plague my mind forever. I'll never forget how mad I was, either… never in my life have I experienced such rage. I winced at the hot water hit my wounds, making them sting. Dark red blood washed away with the water and seeped into the drain. I covered it when the water turned ruby red, signifying that the wounds were clean.

I washed the blood from my hair, and then I turned the water off. I stood there a moment longer, just thinking, and then I quickly wrapped a clean white towel around myself. There were a few drawers and cabinets around, so I rummaged through them until coming across some bandages and medical tape. You can guess what I did with those. After I'd taken care of my wounds, I slid back into my clothes and then really headed home. I admit, I felt a little better now that I was clean, but I was tired to no end.

The first thing I did when I got home was go upstairs to my room, strip my cloths off again and put on a nightshirt. It was easy to do this, even though Dawn was sleeping just across the room. She sleeps like a brick. Not even a nuclear explosion could wake her up. I smiled slightly as she turned over and muttered something inaudible. Then, I crawled into bed and slept.

But even thought I was sleeping like a rack, I still have dreams and nightmares about what had just happened. All night long I had dreams about that short time that my dark side had come out. Not surprising. That fight… it was something I'd carry with me to my grave. Something I wouldn't forget about for a long, long time…

**The End

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Kiri: Well, that's it, folks! (cries) The final chapter! But this isn't ALL your getting. Hell no! I'm writing a sequal to this so you can read even MORE! aside from that, I didn't think the fight was very... good. too short. Maybe I'll go back and fix it later. I dunno, but don't be too hard on me, ok? I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed typing it up! And I hope that you all will read the Sequal, _Sunspots._ I'm getting out of school on wednesday, so I'll have all summer to write it! See ya all later! 


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